My Dieting and How It Helps Me Understand My Kids Behaviors

If you'd like to read in more detail (though not a great deal of detail) about my lack of dieting success this week, you can do so here. But the bottom line is that when I don't lose weight after I get on the scales, I want to give up and throw in the towel.

I think that this habit of mine helps me to understand my kids. Let's say that a kid with behavioral challenges wakes up and says, "I'm going to try to be good today" (whatever good might be). They really do try their hardest that day, but because of their special needs it doesn't go so well. They get scolded at home for forgetting that they aren't supposed to torture the dog, they get in trouble on the bus because they got distracted and doodled on the back of the seat, they were off task several times and got "yelled at" at school, and they came home and had a sibling pick a fight with them that wasn't really their fault. At the end of the day, do you not think they might say, just as I did after I got off the scale this morning, "If I tried that hard and it didn't make a difference, I'm not trying any more!"

And while they might not be off to drown their woes in a Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit (OK, so you can't really drown yourself in a biscuit, but you know what I mean), they might just decide that the next day they're not going to try. And then there is a REALLY bad day where we see what the child is capable of in regards to bad behaviors.

I'm not sure that the whole process is that well thought out with kids, but I do think that there are many times when they are "trying hard to be good" and even their hardest isn't good enough... and the result is a period of time where they don't bother to try.

It's my goal to be more in tune with the days when it seems my kids are at least trying hard, and commend them for their effort, even if their attempts aren't successful. Because days when they don't try at all are really not fun.