Well, it happened again. A friend of T’s showed up to a play date and was just one little angry dude, beyond belief. He was screaming and clinging to his poor, tired mama, and he was far from happy.

I asked my mom friend if he’d eaten recently, and the mom was like oh yeah, baby. He’d snacked in the car, almost the entire way to the park, and he even scarfed up his sister’s snack, too! I asked about sleep, and short story was that it was a weird night for all involved really, but still, he had slept.

Since I was unable to test the sleep thing, I did have food. I generously offered the little guy a small handful of whatever it was T was munching at the time. Well, what do you know? Problem solved! He in a matter of minutes calmed down and seemed to transform into a happy, well-adjusted gentle-boy, and he was off and playing.

Suffice it to say, I’ve learned a few things regarding these children and their eating habits and patterns:

1. A kid is a body in motion that stays in motion. Their engines are constantly running and the tank must be constantly full. Chug-chug goes the train and the fireman is constantly stoking that fire. We moms are those gas pumps and those firemen with that train coal (i.e., SNACKS), so we must have food handy and in sprawling variety at all times, on demand. Think metabolism, people. Sure, it’s easy to be jealous that these mini-us’es can eat pretty much whenever and whatever they want. But just as much as I may jealous that my kid could eat a pack of Madeline cookies from Starbucks every single morning for five days in a row (at 200+ calories per pack, refer to my previous post https://realmomtime.wordpress.com/2011/06/24/dad-away-things-not-the-same/), I do realize those cookies are a very different kind of fuel being burned inside of a very, very different kind of engine: kids are simply much younger, much cleaner, and much more efficient at burning off that fuel. ‘Nuff said.

2. These kids are growing constantly. Like weeds, bamboo, trees… really, take your pick. But again, the plant-children are most definitely a much younger age than we are and therefore, we are witnessing a very different type growth; even young flora mature and stop growing at the rate of their just-sprouted counterparts. So while our kids grow up, we grow… wiser beyond our years. Yes, that’s it!

3. Other people’s food will always be more interesting than the smorgasbord we can muster. Do not take this personally, moms. After all, how many times have you gone to dinner with a friend, your husband, or a stranger at the next table (so anyone really) and envied whatever else is on the table that is NOT on the plate in front of you? OK then, this is another judgment we cannot hold against the wee ones. Chalk it up to mini-human nature. So just be sure if you carry apples, your other mom friends carry oranges. And hang out with folks who don’t mind if you have what they’re having.

I’ll sign off with simply this: feed your kids, moms. Feed them daily, hourly, whatever it takes. Or else may the hunger monster be with you, literally.