Experimenting. Parenting. Part Three.

I am just so darned impressed with my kiddo and I've told him so!  Isn't that smug look that a kid gets when they're proud of themselves for an accomplishment so cool!  Continuing my efforts to remove as many limits as possible, we embarked on experiment number three about three weeks ago.  From my prior post, here is the system we had in place for assuring basic variety and nutrition requirements:


"The current deal is: he picks a protein and a veggie and then a sugar. Sometimes I help or he'll do it on his own. He does request a lot more assistance with meals. He has a massive sweet tooth, but there are lots of good options available to him..."


He never had to eat at a certain time i.e. he was used to paying attention to his hunger signals.  He was welcome to eat as much or little as he liked.  The limit placed was that some kind of protein and veggie came before dessert.  I am pleased to report another complete success.  I gave this experiment the same kind of set up.  I pointed out how he had been able to listen to his body and handle both bed time and screen time without my help.  We talked about how he knew what kind of things were important for his body. That was it for discussion prep and I continued to make good choices available to him.  


How many kids go to the freezer to scoop up some frozen peas to enjoy with their breakfast?!?!?  He did that today!  He does find them a very tasty veggie to munch on.  He often forgets to eat dessert which was rare before, when it was something that required a protein and veggie first.  I haven't seen him have a single dessert-only meal or snack, not that I'd stop him if he did.  At the beginning of this trial, he'd often ask me if he could have some sweet and I'd always say it's up to him.  While he'll occasionally still ask, he expects to make the choice himself.  I am floored by how little sugar he's having!  This morning, he had a lollipop in his pocket... he knew he could have it whenever he wanted, he never got around to eating it.  He did eat: cubed ham, bacon, frozen peas, homemade vegetable soup, over a pound of lamb ribs, and tons of water.


This is really a delightful process to see as he grows in independence!  He is growing in self-esteem and confidence and he's still crazy quirky, but he'll figure that out too :)


Next limit to remove... school?  I haven't decided yet, but I'm so darn frustrated, that we may be either Montessori or homeschooling within the next week.  Not only does his current school have a vast number of artificial limits, I have had enough of the promises to challenge him academically that have not come through.  They were a perfect match when he had so many special needs that they specifically targeted with custom interventions.  The last eight weeks have been so useless, I'm teetering on the edge. We'll look at options and decide.

Making his own school lunches.  If he doesn't, he knows he won't have anything to eat.  Somehow, he's never made that choice, but he does choose to ignore my knife advice sometimes...

...and he's both old enough and controlled enough to cope with the minor consequences of that choice.  I still give reminders though... can't help myself.