Don’t Eat Too Many Potato Chips

Posted August 30th, 2006

Chantal asked,”Who likes potato chips?” Brayden said, “Charles likes potato chips!” When I read an e-mail with this exchange, I replied that I like potato chips too much and will eat too many. When his mother told him, Brayden said, “He better be careful, he’ll get a tummy ache!”

Children know better than adults when they reach their limit. Brayden kept reminding his mother for several days that I should not eat too many potato chips. Our two-year old granddaughter, Olivia, lets her parents know when she is “all done.” Then she doesn’t eat any more.

I was talking to a friend yesterday. He said his grandson had been drinking juice before breakfast, and then would not eat his breakfast. Both my friend and I agreed that we could have a snack just before a meal, and the snack did not affect our ability to eat the full meal.

When did we mess up our “all done” mechanism? Intellectually, I know that eating too many potato chips might cause a tummy ache. I’m taking Brayden’s advice, so I’m learning from this three year old. Thanks, Brayden!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 30th, 2006 at 7:04 pm and is filed under Learning from Children.