Day 29 Parenting through Entitlement and Bananas

To review, the goal in the beginning of this blog was to record a three month journey without going to the grocery store. Over the weeks I have been discovering just why a family of 10 would take such a challenge. A primary reason was "to govern myself," "to govern my own health," "to live within my means," and as a rebellion against a federal government that would make policy that is forever growing the welfare class. I am rebelling against a sense of entitlement. I want to decide my own fate and preserve in my children the same fight. Our food choices are a chief vehicle in physical, emotional, and mental well being. What and how we feed children is an most effective method to reinforce parenting values. Our dinner table can mirror reality. Children are permitted to eat according to how responsibly they act. Irresponsible behavior means curtailed food privileges. One mother I know will provide a can of tuna, a green onion, and a glass of water if a child is disrespectful, dishonest, or blatantly disobedient to house rules. Partaking of her carefully prepared family dinners is a privilege to be to earned. Every child has the entitlement to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness at no one else's expense and that is all. Anything one receives beyond that should be accompanied with a great deal of gratitude. When anyone asks repeatedly for anything including special foods like it is their right to receive it, he has an entitlement mentality. I think the Family Therapist John Rosemond gave a good rule of thumb in guiding wants and needs of young children. He encouraged parents to say "No" five times to one in order to raise responsible citizens who don't feel that they are the center of the universe. For me that means that my children can have likes and dislikes but they soon learn to be grateful if we eat their favorite food once in a great while. Or they quickly learn to like lots of foods and be grateful for anything to eat. They learn to control their appetites, wants and desires. This discipline carries over to other areas of their lives building responsible, law abiding citizens committed to forgetting themselves and sacrificing as they work hard for their daily bread.

Too many in our nation have not learned these basic lessons of life. They present an insatiable demand for food, shelter, health care, and other benefits with no personal effort. This is living a lie. Give me bread and water but let me be honest. Allow my children the same privilege.

We were given manna from angels today. They brought bananas. The two bunches lasted 10 minutes. Everyone was grateful.

Breakfast: Potato Casserole in the crock pot. This was the same as yesterday with the variation of fresh potatoes. This took an extra hour to cook so I fried two eggs for the high school student who had to leave. We started school while we waited for breakfast to cook.
Lunch: Leftover Rice with cream sauce, Potato Casserole and Tropical Fruit.
Dinner: White beans, whole wheat bread with butter, and fruit. The children said this was the first real "food storage meal" of the journey. They complained a little, and had the option to learn to enjoy a few beans on a bed of real butter with salt (my favorite way to eat beans).