For as long as Moo has been eating table food, I’ve admonished the other children, “Don’t take food from the baby!”
Little Moo was underweight, so this “Don’t take food from the baby!” phrase had been well, crucial.
I had enough trouble with the criticism of pediatric nurses, I didn’t wanna hafta say things like, “Her sisters steal her food.”
“No, we’re not food insecure.”
“No, I don’t need a home visit.”
“My children eat all the time.”
“Do you even have children?!”
Moo barely spoke until she was three. There was nothing wrong with her, she could say the perfunctory amount of words, she just wasn’t particularly fond of it. She preferred to scream and cry and grunt. Mostly her sisters spoke for her. Sometimes we still need Sassy’s translation. Y’all probably think Moo words better than I give her credit for, but I present to you, messages from Moo.
Even Sassy couldn’t make heads or tails outta that. Considering Moo had worn pantyhose, not leggings, to school that day.
There were times that Sassy decidedly abused this situation. Like the time Sassy ate all of Moo’s cottage cheese in addition to her own and told me it was because, “My Moomy no likey chottage cheese.”
UH HUH.
As I told you, this had been advantageous for the others as well. Say for instance I gave them all two cookies… Some children, I’m not naming names, might would steal the baby’s cookies, because well, she’d just run to me in a total cookie loss meltdown. It’s not like she’d use her words. No one would ever know her cookies had been stolen. Besides, we all know the baby is the spoiledest of spoiled. Just ask them, she gets everything. Why should she get cookies on top of all the love and affection her parents provide?
There may have been other things I’ve had to say along with “Don’t take food from the baby!”
Such as…
“I realize your sister is not eating at a rapid pace, but let’s give her some time before we hijack the ravioli from her highchair, okay?”
“You may clean up her ice cream cone, but no, you may not have it.”
“She’s eating peas! She likes peas! Give the baby all your peas!”
You can really only understand this if you’ve had an underweight child. Don’t be petty.
“Don’t take food from the baby!” is a thing I still say, although less often.
So last week, as Sassy nibbled her precious potato chips and Moo stuck her hand in the bag, Sassy cried out, “Mama! She’s eating my chips!”
I looked over, and I saw the chips were orange and loaded with fat.
I said, “Let the baby eat!”
And we all laughed and laughed.
Except Sassy.
Happy Friday Everyone!
joeyfullystated 
We all stress so much about what our kids eat/don’t eat. Like water, they all seek their own level, and it works out for them. I was severely underweight for years, and was forced to sit for hours until I finished what they put on my plate. They gave up, sooner or later, mostly so I could do homework, and get ready for bed. Net result for me: I offered, but never insisted that my own kids eat anything. They always had healthy weights/ still do. ☺
LikeLiked by 3 people
Underweight children were my brunt to bear with Bubba and Moo. So much unwanted commentary. We were both scrawny kids, but I don’t know that it was a big deal in the 70’s, because our mothers didn’t get nagged. Once Bubba filled out a bit, I stopped worrying so much about Moo and ignored the nurses. But in those first years, it was constant criticism.
I’ve never done that thing where you make a kid sit at the table until all the whatever’s gone. Too many bad stories about that. I’m more the “Breakfast will taste even better tomorrow” sort.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I so get this. Happy Friday, Joey.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Lois 🙂
LikeLike
Well you can’t please everybody. I think an addendum to that line would be “You gotta’ love me. I’m the baby.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Man..Ive seen my kid bro put away more food in one sitting than most do in two days. And hes always been like that. Hes a big guy now, but not as big as youd think he would be if you saw him eat. I get full just watching him load a plate 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
I reckon your ma never had to admonish you for takin his food, then, hm?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Not his food..lol. We steal everything else from each other though. 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
😛
LikeLike
None of ours were underweight, but we saw some of the same things. Jealousy over cookies and such is pretty universal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was an underweight child and I took forever to eat. For the longest time, I just had no interest in eating. It seemed like such a chore, I really couldn’t be bothered. I remained underweight for years. I can sympathize with Moo. Except for the word part. I was always a talker. Pretty much a never shut up talker. I want to think that, on more than one occasion, the expression “would you please shut up and eat” was uttered, but it may have only happened once. Let the baby eat.
LikeLiked by 2 people
😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like a lively household you have – Mother’s of underweight children rarely stop worrying about them – my son is a string bean and the first thing I ask him when he calls is “are you eating enough”? He’s in his thirties.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LOL I understand!
LikeLike
We had big uns. Big eaters, all three. Now the grands share the big kid genes. Our tribe spent a week together in June (no murders). All went (and ate) well. How often I heard, “Are you gunna eat that?” (Waves from the other end of the size and weight spectrum).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Heh. I only have one who’s never on the verge of too thin, and I call her the giantesse. She was born scrawny, but that didn’t last long at all! There’s some weird recessive gene in her, I’m certain — my nephews were like Paul Bunyan! 😛
LikeLiked by 1 person
omg – this post brought back memories!!! Both my sons were underweight. To this day I still don’t know how son #2 made it to adulthood. It seemed for a while he was surviving purely on air.
Then they became teenagers.
My food bill hasn’t been the same since.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m so glad you understand, Joanne! It’s nice when they make that turn for heft, but yes, it gets expensive, and heavy (pushing, loading, unloading, putting it all away, cooking it in big pots, washing the big pots… 😛 lol)
LikeLiked by 2 people
I like that you have a natural and easy going way of treating food, Joey! 🙂 I believe the bigger issue you make of things, the more of a problem it may become. . . Later in life.
You are right though to tell the kids to leave Moo’s food alone. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! We have this problem with Baby Girl. She’s small and doesn’t eat much as it is, and we find LM sometimes stealing from her “on accident.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
So many parallels with Moo and BG — I sure hope BG doesn’t cause you to get nagged by the nurses!
LM, Don’t take food from the baby!
LikeLiked by 1 person
For real!
They haven’t said much about BG since she started out tiny, but it’s a different story with LM now, who has lost several pounds this year while growing 4 inches.
LikeLike
Oh E, don’t let them shame you. Just love him and feed him and give em the stink eye! lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
I tried explaining that he’s more active and we aren’t letting him eat the super high fat school lunch they order in anymore, but I might as well be talking to myself. Sam has been super freaked out, constantly nagging him to eat and checking his weight 😒
LikeLike
Oh that’s unfortunate. You can only do so much…like more butter and milk, lol! I don’t know, I swear they just grow into themselves. Puberty hits and then the doctors start talkin about how the one that was such a healthy baby needs to take more exercise, and 10 years in, I was kinda like, “Fuck you and fuck all y’all’s charts.” Sorry I’m not reasonable about it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lol!! 😂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. I’m just sayin, like, some things matter, they matter a lot. The child’s HEALTH, including mental health, would be #1 — the charts, PFFFT!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Poor Sassy ;)!
LikeLiked by 2 people