The child will cry for a time but soon determination will cause them to try again and again until they walk. But there is another side to this story. Normally within twenty seconds of the child falling over an adult will have to reach out to get them and try and comfort the child. That is great the child needs to be reassured of what happened, to show that it was ok to try to walk and fall. But often the adult changes the rules because not only will they try and reassure the child but they will look for something to give them to eat or drink, a cookie or a bottle of milk. Now, what lessons have this young child learned during this short time that they cried? *Anytime you have a problem or fall then you stop the emotions with food. *It isn't OK to cry. A piece of food is to replace the feelings quickly. *Look for the emotions found in food than in the pain felt for even a short time. *Always eat your emotions never show them. If no food had been given then the child would have been comforted by the hug from the adult. The pain would have eased very shortly and the crying still stopped. But already the child is being taught how to eat their feelings. And even worse if they were given a cookie then they have been given a taste for sugar and the cravings that come with that. What we are taught as children about food normally is what we pass on to our children. Why because it is all we know unless we have had lessons in food and nutrition. We need to stop and think about what we do and why we do what we do with food. Do we use it to bribe our children? Do we use it to comfort our children? |