Parenting Children Who Are Overweight

Seeing a difference in children's weight these days, as opposed to twenty years ago is readily apparent. If you are like most Moms of more than one child, you probably have a child that falls into the overweight category. Being overweight is not only an excess of weight, it's now defined as being larger than the anorexic girls walking around our kids' schools. It's sad that society has done this to our children, little girls mostly.

Recognizing this problem involves more than a true weight problem; it involves the child's self perception as compared to other children. Therefore, it's vitally important as a parent, to pay close attention to how your child feels about himself/herself. If your child begins asking questions about why they don't look like the other kids and paying entirely too much attention to outward appearances, remember reading this article.

Before addressing the weight of my child, I chose to address the self-esteem issue. If a child feels he/she is perfectly acceptable in the eyes of her parents, she is more likely to feel acceptance across the board. Reinforce the fact of the child's value being in the person she is rather than what she looks like. This is easily done by recognizing and praising their achievements and skills. A person's success in this world is going to be in what they do, not what they look like. Set your child up to win by encouraging them in their scholastic achievements, sports, etc.

Once your child has a healthy opinion of self, there are many tools available to help you help your child. Diet and exercise are the tried and true methods that will ensure a healthy body for years to come. Portion control was huge for me. Instead of making an entire plate of food, I would make sure the food only covered 1/2 the plate. That truly is more than enough for a child! Adding a thirty minute brisk walk three times a week is a good start. You can visit weightlossforall.com for great tips on exercise, weight loss and healthy dieting habits. Remember, it's a lifestyle change that will occur over time. Keep your child encouraged about the long-term benefits of healthy eating.

One diet that's well-balanced and easy to stick to is Weight Watchers. Over the years, they have improved their diets to accommodate individuals with busy lives. Weight Watcher's is just one example of a nutritionally sound diet. You can Google "diet" and stumble upon more than you ever thought possible. The most simple diet is that of high protein, low fat with moderate carbohydrate intake.

I hope this helps someone in their challenge. Please leave any additional tips that you feel may be beneficial to me or other readers.

Fight or Flight? What do you teach your children?

While teaching my children the ways they should and should not handle conflicts, the bottom line is to avoid fighting if at all possible. I'll recap the events of last night to let you know how that's working for me.

After work, the family gathered at home to get ready for the high school football game. We have three children ages thirteen, fifteen and seventeen. Our son is the older of the three and the younger two are girls. My best friend's sixteen year old daughter was over to spend the night too. This means we had to take two cars to accommodate everyone.

Our team was completely clobbered, but otherwise the game was uneventful. My husband and I head home after giving the children a few dollars to run by Sonic for a slushy. I figured the kids would be home by the time I changed into my pajamas and got ready for bed. Once we arrived and were ready for bed, the kids still weren't home.

About five minutes after sending all of them a text asking where they were, my phone rings. My thirteen year old is frantic and screaming, "These boys are attacking Brennan and have busted out his windshield!" I can hear my other daughter in the background screaming, "Sonic, now, Sonic, right now!" Good for her, she was calling the police. It was then I realized I wouldn't be going to bed anytime soon.

My husband and I race outside, hop in the car and hurry to Sonic. The parking lot of Sonic resembled a riot with policemen and kids running around everywhere. As a mother, I didn't care about anything but making sure my son was okay.........and the boys responsible for this went to jail!

Relived my son was okay, I walk over to the vehicle to check out the damage. It could have been much worse, so now my concern is what in the world happened? Apparently, the EX-boyfriend of the girl spending the night with us, saw her in the car with my son and daughters. In an instant he became outraged and charged the car, along with a friend. Who would have thought going for a slushy from Sonic could cause such a commotion?

Getting down to the facts of the fight, I learn these two boys come to the open window of my son from behind the car. One of them lunges in the window and starts hitting my son, while the other is trying in earnest to come in via the windshield. Trying to avoid a fight at all costs, my son only tries to keep the boy from continuing to hit him. The girls report him grabbing his arms in an attempt to subdue him.

My whole opinion on avoiding fighting has just changed. If you are so bold as to come in my vehicle to hit me, I'll be slugging with wreckless abandon! It broke my heart to hear my son explaining to the policeman that he didn't want to get in trouble so he only tried to keep from being hit. He leaned back and put his foot up to block the boys punches rather than puttin' up his dukes and defending himself and his property. It's not as if he couldn't defend himself, he was merely trying to be obedient and stay out of trouble with the law.

If I'm robbed on the street and shoot someone, I'd be charged with attempted murder or murder. If someone comes into my home, however, and attempts to steal from me, I can shoot him and it be self defense.

Furthermore, I have a question. Why would this boy, who broke up with his girlfriend, believe he had any right to control who she rides with or anything else for that matter?

As for jail, you ask? The boys instigating this whole incident are still seventeen, therefore, can't be taken to jail. They were free to leave the scene and go home to sleep comfortably in their beds with the knowledge they can do whatever they want to whomever they want....until they are eighteen.