Please Don’t Feed The Parents

I read somewhere once that when you have a child you will put on about half a stone in weight. This was directed at parents who have biological children rather than adopting them, but I can certainly see how it is possible.

I’m not just talking about those times when you escape into the kitchen and scoff some chocolate biscuits as quickly as possible so you don’t get caught (and have to share). We all know that’s a necessary bit of respite to maintain some semblance of sanity. I’m talking about finishing off the leftovers; the unwanted chips, the sausage which has been rejected due to being too brown, or the slightly soggy but otherwise perfectly edible fish finger. Ok, maybe I’m going too far with the fish finger.

I do hate food waste though, so I can see why parents put on weight. We may be on our feet more, chasing after errant toddlers, breaking up petty squabbles, or rescuing the dog from over-zealous cuddles, but eventually we just plonk ourselves on the sofa and refuse to move for anything short of nuclear disaster.

Another thing: Ice cream! What’s with that? How does something that seems so easy to eat as a grown-up manage to get itself spread over face, hands, clothes, walls, chairs, tables, etc?

I remember thinking how great my Mum was at stopping my ice cream from dripping down onto my hands by licking around the cone, saving my hands from the stickiness. Only now, as a parent, do I realise that she probably benefited from doing that more than I did. Not just from preventing leakage and therefore the sticky mess that she would need to clear up, but she GOT TO EAT MY ICE CREAM!

Still, we can’t win with ice cream. Our children ask for it, if we have some in the freezer they can have it if we’re feeling like generous parents. It is often ‘too cold, Daddy!’. No amount of explaining that ice cream has to be that cold or else it would be a liquid mess seems to be good enough. So, we inevitably have to finish off the ice cream for them.

We only give them vanilla or if they’re lucky Neapolitan, I think we’re a bit scared to give them anything more exotic like ‘Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food‘ just in case they like it enough for it to override their dislike of ‘below-freezing-temperature ice cream’ (or ‘ice cream’ as we like to call it). I don’t want to share that, it’s my favourite!

Maybe letting them join in on the Ben & Jerry’s would help offset my parental weight gain, maybe it won’t. I’m just not ready to find out.

 

(this is NOT a sponsored post, I just like ice cream)

7 comments

  1. Weight gain is inevitable! Always slump myself on the sofa once little one is asleep and dont tend to budge! Snacking doesnt help the situation, I know my poor arteries are dying for some fruit of an evening. Cant say Im fond of ice cream or ice lollies anymore – I had a serious craving during my pregnancy and ate box loads every day/week. I now cant stand the sight of them!

  2. I do start to finish off her food and think why am I doing this? Let it go! She’s not on sugar or salt yet, so no left over ice cream, unfortunately! #ThatFridayLinky

  3. Ha ha ha so true. I have had to stop myself finishing food it was not good. So glad I am not alone #thatfridaylinky

  4. I’ve certainly gained weight since becoming a mummy. Our twin girls are five years old now so I don’t think I can still call it a ‘mummy tummy’ can I?! Thanks for linking up to #ThatFridayLinky

  5. Love this give my Ben & jerrys away haha! NO NOT A CHANCE WILL NEVER HAPPEN I guess lifestyle changes and we put a few extra pounds on fab read Thanks for linking to the #THAT FRIDAY LINKY come back next week please

  6. I always remember my dad saying that my brother and I were making him fat when we didn’t finish our dinner, and thinking how silly that was…until I became a mum and often found my weight loss efforts derailed by my son’s inability to finish what was on his plate! It’s a real thing. That, and the times I just have to “test” the odd snack to make sure it isn’t *cough* poisoned or something.
    #thatfridaylinky

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.