Lunchtime....

Recently, Joe and I have noticed that Aiden takes FOREVER to eat. He will sit at the table for an hour if we let him. He spends most of his time talking and eating in between. It wouldn't be that big a deal if in the real world we had all the time in the world to eat. He starts kindergarten in August and one of my fears is that he will starve at school because of this habit. Do you remember being a kid and right before a big test, your teachers would stress the importance of eating a well balanced diet and they would want you to eat breakfast. A student can not concentrate on his or her studies if they are hungry. Letters would be sent home encouraging parents to feed their child a nutritious breakfast before school and to make sure that the child is getting plenty of sleep at night. I have had so many parents complain about their child's sleeping habits and luckily, we've never had this issue. BUT here comes kindergarten and my kid WON'T SHUT UP long enough to finish a meal in a decent time. Now, let me tell you what really chaps my a$$(pardon me). The schools today have cut things like P.E. and then complain about children who are obese. They serve kids CRAP bc in their way of thinking, if the kid won't eat it, what's the sense in feeding it to them? I am here to tell you, my Granny and Pediatrician both said, "if a kid is hungry they will eat!" SO go ahead, serve them healthier options please. At home, my kid eats a plethora of things. Every food group. He eats chicken(not just chicken nuggets, he quite enjoys grilled chicken), fish(not fried and not fish sticks, I am talking salmon folks), broccoli(with out cheese too, just steamed w/some lemon juice), asparagus(not loaded down in butter), Chili(one of his favorites and I use ground turkey), corn, mashed potatoes, green beans, apples, oranges, bananas,pears, and he LOVES salad w/balsamic vinegar! SO you see, what you serve them, they will eat if they are hungry and if they are started at a very young age at eating from ALL the food groups. SO what he eats isn't a problem at all. As you can see. IT IS HOW LONG IT TAKES HIM TO EAT. Then this issue becomes HUGE when the school will allow around 20 minutes to eat lunch. TWENTY MINUTES. Children this young do not understand "time" very well. I think it's absurd that schools only allow this much time. However, at the same time, most adults are given between 30 minutes to an hour for lunch. SO I get why they limit it bc that's how the real world works. But if you ask doctors they will tell you to take your time when you eat. It takes your brain at least 10 minutes to realize that you're full and eating too fast can cause certain medical conditions like GERD to be worse.
 Aiden's Preschool teacher mentioned that she was going to start setting a timer to help the preschoolers with time management when eating. I am thinking now that this may be a good idea for me to do with Aiden now.It wouldn't be a big deal but it's starting to affect every day routines like bath time. He will take so long to eat and when it's time to take a bath complain that he's still eating dinner and he can't take a bath yet until he is done. OR it was time for a nap last week and when I mentioned it was nap time, he says "but I am hungry still, I am going to finish my lunch" and starts eating grapes that he should have finished if he were hungry an hour ago. I think part of it is an excuse to not take a nap yet, or whatever. However, next year at lunch time he can't refuse to go to class because he is still eating. I am frustrated at the schools for the time they allow and frustrated w/my son for wanting to talk the whole time he's eating. I love hearing his stories and I want him comfortable to talk to us about anything, but can't he eat first? Maybe I should just do a "no talking" rule when eating....that's unheard of in my family! If you hear a lady screaming in about an hour, that would be me bc my child is still sitting at the dinner table!!!!