Consequences

Consequences.....that's a loaded word to me right now.  Natural consequences, parental consequences, diet consequences, spiritual consequences, consequences for behavior or lack there of.

Elyse didn't eat dinner last night.  There was food I knew she would eat, some I knew she likely wouldn't but there was food and plenty of it.  She ate a few bites total but that was it.  No big discussion, dinner ended.  The same went for breakfast.  She took one bite.

I mentioned to Matt that her eating so little made me nervous to send her to school.  He assured me she was fine, our consistency and persistence were paying off in so many ways and that no child would let themselves starve.

Around 10:45 a.m. I got a call from the school (first one ever) that Elyse was complaining of a tummy ache and laying down on the floor.  I missed the call due to bad reception in the house.  A short while later, on the playground, she complained of the same pains and "fell asleep" at a table.  This is not at all like her, not at all.  She is a very well-rested child.  She was given a snack and some water and the teacher said she seemed better and they felt she would be fine to stay the remainder of the time.

At first I thought maybe she was sick, but as I pieced together the past 24 hours I thought about how little she had eaten.  I discussed with the director that I would be more than happy to come pick her up but I explained what I thought the culprit was and that we were making efforts in our home to get out of unhealthy eaten patterns and discontinue the short-order chef routine.  The director agreed fully and felt it would be fine for Elyse to stay for lunch.

I packed a big lunch of things she loves and she ate a HUGE lunch.  Miraculously she was all better.

When I picked her up, hugged her, told her I was so glad she was okay, and we had a long talk about it.  How God gave us food to nourish our bodies, give us energy, help us focus.  When we don't make the best choices for our bodies, or don't eat at all, we can feel sick like she did today and we can't do the things we need to do well.  Her tummy hurt and she felt so sleepy because she didn't take care of herself.

As her parent I'm the overseer of her health, her safety, her general well-being.  As an individual, she will slowly need to learn that she is responsible for herself in many ways and eventually all ways.  I allowed, though some may disagree, a natural consequence for her today.  She was given opportunity to care for herself and she declined.  It affected her all morning.  On the drive home she told me how she wasn't able to do the monkey bars because she felt so "sick".  She wasn't sick, she was hungry, very hungry and it didn't need to be like that.  I told her it's my job to offer her healthy food, but it is her job to eat it so she feels her best to be the best Elyse that she can.

Some of my most life-changing and memorable lessons were the result of natural consequences.  Things no one could teach me but the affects of my actions alone.  I'm not sure if we'll venture this road again or if any of the lesson behind the consequence sunk in or if she even regards the events as a consequence, but I tried, and for me, I'm okay with that.