Tiki did the trick!
Aug 30th, 2008 by admin
When it comes to eating habits, my son has been more into the junk side.. fries, McDonald’s burgers, pizzas from papa john, pizza huts and pizza corners. He is more happy to go to McDonald and get a happy meal for himself then to eat a proper meal at home. I noticed that it was more because he was getting that small toy for himself.
Things continued the same when we came to Toronto. With McDonalds just across the street, he was always after eating Happy Meal and collecting the transformer toys. After some time, he started getting the same toy set as McDonalds also has just a limited selection. And Urjit had all the toys in his collection. When it comes to eating pizzas, he will never want to eat any pizza with vegetable or other toppings. He is more interested in eating just his plain tomato and cheese pizza.
Cheese is what he really likes. At home also, every now and then he will just open the fridge, take out one cheese slice and finish it. I on my part was trying hard to make him understand that it is not good to always eat junk food. Maybe he was not too big enough to understand or we also used to give up early and fall to his demand.
But things have really changed in the last few weeks and I am so happy. It started one day, when I was reading a cartoon strip to him. He has this habit of making me read something before he goes off to sleep at night. Since I carried just a few story books over here, and we both finished all the books, Urjit used to pick up newspapers with cartoon strips and I used to read it out to him. In that cartoon strip, there was a man, who was suffering a lot and there was depiction of all these worms and germs in his stomach, that they were all enjoying the junk food, and they were discussing how this man keeps eating so much junk food and keeps us all happy. I told to Urjit that the same thing might be happening in his tummy as well and that’s the reason he sometimes complain me about stomach pain. He gave me a very surprising and worried look. And then I explained him how it is always good to eat good, fresh and healthy food.
Next day I searched the net to find something related with kids eating habits and good food and I came to this website of Tiki, the Penguin. The Food page was so beautifully illustrated with all details about good and healthy food and what is the difference between fresh and processed food. We read the whole web page on food and I explained how one should eat fresh fruit and vegetables to be healthy and processed food is not good for health.
Source : Tiki’s Food Guide
He kept asking me.. Mamma why people make processed food, if it is not healthy.. and why people sell bad food like McDonalds and all. I told them how they just want to earn and make money by making a fool of small kids and all you kids again wasting your parents’ money. It seems he really understood what is good and what is bad. After that day he also spent 3-4 days visiting the Tiki website again and again, checking out all the illustrations and now we have completely stopped going to McDonalds or any of the Pizzerias. He started eating Subway sandwiches, which I felt was a good choice as it is all fresh and healthy. Then I told him that as Tiki said, let’s make the same sandwich at home. So I got him along to the Food Basics and we selected all the fresh stuff and ingredients required for the sandwich and now I make it at home for him, whenever he wants one. And for lunch and dinner as well, he happily eats all the green and fresh vegetables we cook. He asks, mamma what is there in this vegetable.. protein? vitamin? which vitamin? He wants to know everything and is happy to know that he is eating all good food.
He tells me “Mamma, I was such a fool earlier.. always eating junk food all the time, but I was small no.. and I was not knowing anything.. Now I am big.. so I want to become strong and I will eat all healthy food only” . And these days you will always find him eating some fruit.. and he will say his favorite dialogue.. I want to become strong and healthy. So finally Tiki, did the trick for me 
Some snaps of Urjit taken recently at Chinatown,Toronto
How sweet! Urjit has really become big and strong eating those proteins n vitamins.
Nice pics!
Yes Romila, this has been a good change in Urjit and I am really happy. I think it has to do more with his age as he has started understanding things and if we explain things logically, he understands it and tries to follow it
How cute…its really good that finally Urjit understood which food is good and bad for him…once my son starts reading I will show him this page and see how he react to it..:)…hope he will also be like Urjit!!
Luv to Urjit!!
True Asha,
Its only the age oft he children when we can make them understand…I really like the way u make urjit understand all the things…This way they get the correct thing and know why parents are stopping them from doing or eating something…Generally i have seen paretns restricting their kids from something but then a t the smae time they do not justify it…..
U always have been doing a gr8 job and i am sure urjit is lucky to have u as mom and we are happy to have u as our good frined…who guides us ,who make plans for us ,who faclilitates usand what not….
Hi Asha,
thats so very good of u that u make urjit understand all the things logically… this is true that after some age, kids wanna know everything about anything in the world around them, and if we can make them understand something logically rather than just by being angry on them or restricting them from doing anything, which is of no use, indeed it may harm, wud be goos enough.
we are so so lucky to have you… again i wud say.. guuuuuuuuuuud to join this forum.
Hi Asha,
I am sure Urjit is lucky to have u as mom, I have a kid Rupayan, like Urjit. He is 5+ yrs old & like you i also justify him all the things which i restricted him. But my kid have another problem, he thinks he is the best kid in the world, whenever he doing any type of competetion, he thinks he get 1st & if I try to explain him that no one is best in all aspect, someone is good in studies , someone is good in sports, etc. but he never try to realise this, he start crying, Plz give me an idea.