Nellie

I know that she has her own blog now, for her own stuff, but that doesn't mean I can't talk about her here...

.. tonight she made me cry again. We've been having increasing battles over food (I know, I know. But when she refuses to eat ANYTHING, including her favourite foods, then what do I do?) Yesterday I won. I persevered, without losing my temper. I strapped her into her chair and left the room every time I got mad or she refused to stop crying. Eventually, she ate the whole damn lot without a tear. After an hour.

Tonight, neither of us won. I did exactly what I did yesterday, and we got nowhere. After an hour, I figured that she wasn't going to eat. Bribery did not work. So she's going to bed without having eaten. No doubt, she will wake us up in a few hours starving hungry. Great. In the mean time I feel like a shit for having made her go to bed hungry. (She was very happy to just eat her biscuits, but I wasn't going to let her. If she wanted a biscuit she had to earn it.)

And it's just ruined my day. I had such a lovely day with Graeme and seeing friends I won't see again before we leave, and then a lovely time playing with Nellie before supper. And now that's all ruined.

This is the part I absolutely hate about being a parent. Rightly or wrongly, once you make a boundary you have to stick to it. Consistency is key. Sooner or later she will learn that she has to eat whatever is put before her, although she doesn't have to finish everything on her plate. If she wants treats though, she has to eat her food. Plain and simple. In theory, at least. The practice of it is much, much harder. I feel sick to my stomach right now. I really do. I have a headache, I feel nauseous, and I have to go and fix my face (after crying) right now as we have a guest coming in 8 minutes. I just hate this.