Tuesday, JB and both finally admitted what we’d both been thinking but had yet to say out loud.
Diva put on some weight during her time away from us.
I kept thinking something looked different about her, but then I told myself that maybe it was just that I hadn’t seen her in 9 days and she now resembled an Indian. When JB said she looked like she suddenly had no neck, I admitted that I’d also been thinking she looked a little pudgy.
Before she left for the visit with the grandparents, she had started looking lanky…still petite, but lanky. Like all the baby fat was leaving her. Her little face was more defined, especially around the jawline, and she was thinning up.
The snarky comment MIL made to me Sunday about a pair of shorts that Diva said hurt her stomach suddenly made sense. She was trying to make out like I had packed a pair of shorts that were way too small for her, but I quickly informed her that everything I had packed for them had come from the laundry, meaning it had all been worn in the last week or two. I also pointed out that she had not complained of any shorts hurting her stomach.
I let her step on the scale after we came in from swimming that day and was shocked to see that she gained 5 pounds since the last time I weighed her (which was a few days before they left for their visit.) No, I don’t weigh her often…sometimes she is in the bathroom with me as I’m putting makeup on, and she plays with my stuff.
I suspect that someone wasn’t as strict with the all day snacking as I am. If a child is truly hungry, then I have absolutely no problem letting them snack…but I know my daughter. The child will literally eat all day long if I let her. As long as it’s junk food, anyway. Put an actual good dinner in front of her and she won’t touch it. I can imagine my MIL letting them pick out junk they wanted in the grocery store and snacking on it. I already know of three times they went out to eat. Three times in 9 days is a little much!
Even at the age of almost 6, our daughter has some self image issues. As in, she has been asking me if she was fat since before she turned 5 years old. She is nowhere near fat, not even chubby! She has taken after me, and she will likely always be the smallest kid in her class…my only hope is that she might manage to make it past 5 feet tall one day. I make it a point to not talk about diets, weight, or any of that stuff in front of her.
I’m not going to make a big deal out of it though. You might even be thinking 5 pounds is not that big a deal. And I know it’s not in the grand scheme of things…but I also know how I feel with an extra 5 pounds. When you don’t have the height to carry it, it doesn’t feel good at all. I’m just going to quietly get her back into the normal routine of being home, eating at the usual times, and only keeping certain snacks in the house.
I never would have thought I’d have to worry about this for my 6 year old!
A Life So Lovely... 
You have to remember, at her age, she is a growing girl. It’s normal. One day they are good in their clothes, and then, like overnight, they grow.
That kinda stinks that they didn’t stick to her normal routine. But you know she will drop that weight quickly, especially since she can be active during the summer.
I know my daughter, who is ten, has always been one of the heavier girls, like you know, baby fat, but this school year she grew seven whole inches and did not gain nor lose a single pound, so her weight has evened out and all her pants are falling off her now.
Gillian is like your daughter, she will just eat constantly if I don’t stop it. We even talked to the doctor about it because I always get concerned about weight gain for health reasons (her father’s family is … big) and I always think maybe she has a worm… I mean my daughter can out-eat my husband… so we allow her to have seconds, and if she is still hungry after seconds we make her wait a half hour, usually after that she changes her mind.
My daughter is the same way. She will eat and eat and eat and eat some more if you don’t stop her. She even sneaks food like fruit snacks, otter pops, anything that is not REAL food. Drives me BONKERS!
She is small and skinny though. We ask her all the time when is she going to get some hips. However she is growing like a weed so what fits her in clothes this week will be to small next week. Not so much in the waist line though. Its the length because she is also has long legs.
I think once you get her back into the normal routine of it all and with the summer activities she will start to look back to normal in time and those five pounds may be there but won’t be in the way that they are now because her body will find a out way to even it out.
I know what you mean. Jellybean went from a siz 8 to a size 12 virtually overnight. She will snack all day long too if left to herself. We are working on eating healthier and making healthy snack choices as well.
My girls will snack all day long as well, but once dinner is served…not hungry. This is why we have to restrict them as well on what they eat throughout the day, but of course, never starve them.
It’s posts like these that make you very deserving of the Sunshine Award. Congrats!!
http://crassconstruction.blogspot.com/2010/07/todays-linky-suddenly-susan-and-sunhine.html
I know for us it’s really hard dealing with the difference of opinion about things with our parents. Food is one I’m worried about. My MIL cooks a lot of southern style meals, so lots of butter & cheese & bread & she just keeps it coming. She thinks that kids should be “filled out.” All of that makes me nervous. My parents are the other end of the spectrum – I’m afraid they’ll just go for fast food all the time with my daughter. We’ll see. It’s definitely hard that body image is such a big deal now starting at such a young age. I really just want my daughter to be healthy & learn about eating healthy in general.