What I learned in Kindergarten

When I'm not working I volunteer at a local elementary school in the mornings. I have a group of 4th graders that I read with and I help a class of Kindergartners with numbers, letters, blowing noses, etc. A few weeks ago I stayed with the little ones to help out during lunch. The kids that didn't bring a sack lunch walked down the hall, got a tray, picked out the hot lunch items they wanted, and then carried their trays and food back to the classroom to eat. It was funny to see the tiny little tikes coming back down the hall towards the classroom with their big trays loaded up with all manor of random things. It was also interesting watching them eat. There didn't seem to be any emotional or moral associations with their food or their eating experience. If a burrito, fruit, jello, fruit pie, and chocolate milk all sounded delicious to them, then that is what they got. They didn't seem to feel good or bad about certain foods or feel like they were obligated to eat any amount of them. Some kids ate all of their burrito and some just had a little bit of everything. Once their tummies were full, their attention went to a much more important topic: recess!

I was thinking of these kiddos and the way that they ate after a bit of a discouraging experience I had with food. I sat down and pulled out my paper sack for lunch. I had a sizable amount of food in that bag but I only got some of it out and prepared it to eat...half of a sandwich, sugar free hot chocolate instead of chocolate milk, etc. I ate what I had prepared, then ate more, and ended up more full than I would have liked to be. When I was thinking back on that experience, trying to see what may have lead to me eating more than I would have liked, the image of those tiny Kindergartners walking down the hall with their trays all loaded up with everything they wanted popped into my head. I realized that my initial restriction lead to my over eating. Why did I restrict the amounts and types of food that I prepared for myself? Because I didn't want to overeat!! I had some sort of distorted feeling of guilt  when considering getting all of my food out and got scared considering eating several different items at once. I "knew" I didn't "need" that many calories and I felt I would get some feeling of satisfaction by finishing all of my food. In general, I didn't have the attitude of a Kindergartner.

Instead of getting everything that I wanted out and eating it as I desired, I limited myself. When I finished my half sandwich I wanted just a little bit more...another bite or two of that sandwich would have made me feel satisfied.But, since I didn't have anymore sandwich prepared, I ate more and more of other things unsuccessfully trying to achieve that satisfaction. So, by restricting to ovoid over eating, judgment, and wasting,  I ended up over eating. I've realized that I need to get back to the mind set of a child with food. Food doesn't have morals, nobody knows what my body wants right now better than me, and I do not have to eat any specific amount of the food that I want. They may not be able to read, but Kindergartners have got one thing down...they are expert intuitive eaters!