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Jackson’s Drawing

An alternative title to this blog could have been: Healthy vs. Unhealthy Foods: Are my children listening? Read on to know more…

 


If you know my oldest son, you know that his favorite thing to do is to draw. He is 4½ years old now and he loves to draw rainbows, flowers, princesses and hearts. I’ve always loved the portraits he makes of me – I am always a princess or queen in his world.

 


Jackson


A few days ago he was busy drawing. Nothing unusual about that. Then he called out to me “how do you spell healthy and unhealthy?” I was intrigued. I started sounding out the letters so that he could guess the letters and spell those words. When he was done, I had to go see what he was up to. This is what he drew:

Jackson drawing


Knowing the artist, I can decipher an ice cream cone, birthday cake, cookies, pie and candy canes in this picture on the “unhealthy” side, and blueberries, a banana, strawberry, apple and a plum (red + blue= purple if you can’t find a purple crayon) on the “healthy” side. And there’s some pretty good printing to boot, complete with his name.

Can I say how proud I was of him? Totally of his own accord, he made this drawing, when he could have been making the usual beautiful princess picture. Now granted, the timing coincided with his pre-K class focusing on nutrition the week before. But I can’t help but think that some of what I have been teaching him and his siblings about good nutrition, and trying to be a role model for healthy behaviors, is starting to sink in.

I’m going to take at least partial credit for his interest in healthy and unhealthy food. And I’m going to show off his art work too!

What changes have you seen in you, or your family, since you’ve started working on your own healthier behaviors?

 

 
 

by PeggyKerans on 04/10/2012 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: motivation, kids, mommy blog, nutrition

About the Author

Peggy Kerans

Peggy has worked at HMR since 1997 in a number of departments. She is a woman that wears many hats, and juggles a hectic family life with her husband and 3 small children. She likes to cook, do crafts, be a positive role model for her family and keep things fun.

Comments (6) Post a comment
Love these comments. HMRrunner17-I made pureed baby food for my kids and I think they were exposed to more variety of VF as a function of that. NancyA and Debbiec- I have noticed that just having VF washed, cut up and available on the table or counter leads to kids (mine and those visiting) choose to try them vs rejecting an "offer" of serving up some fruit. Looks like you have noticed that too. SandiBraithwaite and ChristineWeithman- I hope my children are also able to role model and encourage and influence others to have a healthier diet as they get older! It is good to see this has been your experience.
by PeggyKerans on 04/12/2012
Great blog Peggy! I have had different experience where my son has had me eating different fruits and vegetables then I normally would. I recentely starting making (pureeing) my 6 month old son fruits and vegetables. I want him to try as many fruits and veggies as possible so I have been buying a lot more produce then normal. Not only is it fun to make him food but I get to try fruits/veggies that I have never had or haven't had in a long time, for example peas, and to my surprise I like them!!
by HMRrunner17 on 04/11/2012
I love this, Peggy. I was amazed at the number of kids who came for play dates who never ate fruit or vegetables. And my husband calls me his "Health management resource". His diet looked very different when we met and he has family history of heart problems. He really enjoys the vegetables we make.
by NancyA on 04/10/2012
I love Jackson's drawing! You never outgrow being the proud parent when you see that your role-modeling of healthy behaviors really did have a positive impact on your children! My girls are both in college and both are working on degrees in Nutrition. They want to learn all they can so that they can eventually have careers in helping people live healthier lives.
by SandiBraithwaite on 04/10/2012
Peggy this is great! See they really are listening. When my 6 year old grandaughter was visiting last summer I was so surprised and delighted when she kept grabbing the broccoli from my plate.
by debbiec on 04/10/2012
Love this story Peggy!! It just confirms how important the early years are for instilling lifelong healthy habits. Sometimes they stick too. My teen daughter shared this story from the other day: She blasted her friend for saying bananas were not healthy... "Its a fruit, of course it is healthy". I was so proud of her and i know she gets it!
by ChristineWeithman on 04/10/2012