Are you hungrier than a 5-year-old?
I doubt you are hungrier than my 5-year-old!
Let me preface this by saying when we moved 2 years ago into our new house the first thing we did was re-do part of the kitchen to allow for a much bigger fridge for Stewie. The fridge that came with the house was not going to be enough for the 6 of us (Me, Urban Mummy, Linus, Stewie, Berry and our Nanny – let’s call her “Gamay”), but we were most concerned about Stewie! This boy can eat and he’s only 5. He’ll eat us out of house and home by the time he is 13-years-old.
For example, in the car on our way up to T&T grocery in the Promenade Mall in lovely Thornhill, Ontario on the weekend Ms. Urban Daddy was engaging the children, asking them what they wanted to be when they grew up when Stewie bubbled up and asked if there were going to be “samples” at T&T? His mind is almost always on food.
As an aside, if you have never been to a T&T grocery store, you must go there! There is a location in the Promenade Mall in Thornhill. and one on Cherry beach in downtown Toronto. T&T is owned by Loblaws and they carry Asian foods. Our children love T&T because of the samples they give out during the day and for the fresh dim sum and sushi they make which we pretty much always buy and eat for lunch or afternoon snack.
When the kids hear T&T they know they’re going to eat while we shop and since the samples are of things we hope our kids will want to eat, like tofu, fish balls, dumplings, and many other unique items we would never think to include in our very healthy diet.
Instead of buying a product, like fish balls, for example and experimenting at home, the kids can give thumbs up and thumbs down to them on the spot and if they like it and will eat it, we can buy it. It makes a lot of sense and is a great way to expand any child’s food options.
The sample stations at T&T are usually manned and the kids know to ask nicely and in return they are given one sample to try unless there are different flavours and they want to try them too. I won’t let them try coffee, or sweets or anything we will not purchase – like pork products – but we have tried some pretty crazy samples over the years.
The one sample per station rule works for everyone except Stewie – who already at 5 eats more in a meal that his 5 foot 11, 230 pound father (me). At the store he tries pretty much everything and if he likes it – and if the food station is unmanned, he’ll eat and eat and eat until someone catches him. He always uses a new toothpick, he’s a bit of a clean freak that way, and he’s not a pig eating everything he just casually takes another, then another with a giant smile on his face. Free food!
That penchant for eating reminded me of our last cruise.
The last cruise we went on, when the off shore excursion was to the cruise lines private island, we got up, ate a huge breakfast, then hopped on the tender to the island. By 9am we were baking in the hot sun, playing in the sand with the shells and laying on a raft.letting the tide take us away, when out of nowhere, Stewie started to get VERY agitated.
It was not just past 10:30am and the anger turned to frustration, which turned to tears.
We brought him back to the beach chair and spoke with him about what was bothering him. The sun? The heat? The sand?
It was none of those.
He was hungry.
Fortunately, the cruise ship was setting up a lunch buffet on the island and were almost done getting it ready, so Ms. Urban Mummy walked over and came back with some fruit, some veggies and some water.
But Stewie did not want any of that…
So all of us walked over to the buffet and immediately, Stewie saw what he wanted.
“I want a burger!” he proclaimed.
“At 10:30am?” I questioned.
“Yes! I want a burger!!!” he said, with his voice borderline agitated, frustrated and again close to tears.
“Okay” we said and by 10:45am after a huge breakfast 2 hours earlier, Stewie was eating a burger. We could see his demeanor changing as he was eating it. There were some blood sugar levels dipping here. But good little Stewie was not done with his first burger… He needed a second one, which he ate quite happily if my memory serves me correctly. He was still 4-years-old at this time, too.
Then after being burned to a crisp, we headed back to the ship for nap time for Stewie and Berry at which point, Stewie started to put up a stink as he was, “hungry”.
So I took him upstairs to the buffet and we sat at he ate yet more food.
Man can that kid pack away the food.
I should have seen this coming. This is the same kid who at about 1 1/2 years old was sitting in his high chair at a family resort just north of Toronto eating a meal – soup I believe – and very slowly, when the waitress came and took away the inch left in his bowl. He did NOT like this and spent the rest of the week with his head on a swivel and every time a waitress walked near the table – ours or others – and he would wag his pointer finger and say, “Never , ever, ever take Stewie’s food away”.
Possessive a little?
His behaviour there came to light in his little sister last week when we at dinner at Safari on Avenue Road in Toronto, when 2-year-old Berry needed to go pee. She looked back at the table and said, “don’t touch my food”, “don’t let anyone take my food”, “I’m still eating”. and she kept mumbling “I’m still eating” over and over again as she walked to the bathroom. When she returned and her food was still there, she smiled and with a look of relief on her face, she said, “Oh! My food is still here. I came back, and my food is still here!”.
But back to Stewie… There was the time we went to St. Thomas, Ontario to see and take a ride on Thomas the Tank Engine and Stewie was probably 3-years-old. After a full day of fun we went out for dinner to – of course – the Mandarin Restaurant. After eating a pretty large meal, matching me plate for plate, I went to get a soup to wind down my meal and with that soup I grabbed 2 teriyaki shrimp to eat.
Stewie finishing his second bowl of soup too, turned to me nd said, “I want shrimp!”.
How did he know what shrimp were?
Okay, so I went back to the buffet and brought him back 2 peeled shrimp. He stuffed them in his mouth so fast, Urban Mummy couldn’t take a picture of him eating them.
He finished and asked for more.
After bringing him another 10 shrimps, we were laughing as were the elderly couple sitting beside us watching how much food this boy has packed away. Figuring he should stop before he explodes, I brought him teriyaki shrimp instead but he loved those too.
So fast forward now, and we’re all finished eating, when Stewie after finishing his 32nd shrimp declares that he is full.
We gasp, and pack up the family feeling sorry for the Mandarin who made money on the few noodles that Linus ate but lost a ton of the massive amounts of food that my skinny 3-year-old just hoovered back.
That trait remains to this day.
Just last week Urban Mummy made mini-pizza’s for the family. 5 small ones for Linus and Berry to split, 3 for her, 3 for me and 3 for Stewie. She ate 1 and a half. I managed to eat 2 – but probably should have stopped at 1 and a half as well, while Stewie ate all three and needed a snack before bed.
And yes, we have had him tested for worms.
He’s fine.
He’s hungry.
He’s a growing boy!
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