Up In Arms!

Other possible titles for this one:

A Selfish Post

Which Comes First… The Chicken or the Egg?

K, this one is for me.  I just need to write about this.  I’m not claiming it will be interesting to you at all.  In fact, I’m sure it won’t be.  But I’m doing it anyway. 

What’s the deal?? 

With my girl… ?? 

Here’s the breakdown. 

This is a 4 year old girl that is tired all the time.  She actually complains to me that she is tired “all the time.”  She sometimes says to me, at 4:00pm, that she wants it to be bed time. 

Now, you might be thinking to yourself that she probably needs more sleep at night.  Well, maybe.  But she regularly goes to sleep at 7pm-ish (RARELY later than 8pm) and sleeps until sometime between 7 and 8 in the morning.  That’s a good nights sleep for a four year old girl.  (And a nap is out of the question.  If she ever happens to take one, she will not fall asleep before 11pm that night.  Without fail.)  This girl should be a well-rested chick!

She loves to play with friends and wants to do all the fun things that the other kids are doing.  But she’s often too tired and begs to go home.

I teach soccer classes to kids her age that are very fun and people PAY for their kids to take these classes.  Sarah has the opportunity to join in on these classes when I teach.  Disaster.  She wants to.  Oh, how she wants to.  But she just gets too tired and wants to sit by the wall or in the car.  All the while, crying from frustration and disappointment.

Okay, so you get the idea.

BUT!  She is a terrible eater.  You may have a picky eater and think to yourself, “Oh, yes.  I have one of those.”  And maybe you do.  But when I say “picky,” I mean she does not want to eat.  ANYTHING!!  Nothing at all.  She will eat treats.  Yes.  But certainly not enough to ruin her appetite for an entire day.  She likes a glass of Nesquik milk.  But not enough to get her through the day (or even the morning).  She has days (like maybe one or two a month) that she will eat.  Like a few bites of macaroni and cheese.  But mostly, every bite is an absolute battle.  And I have no idea how to win.  That old quote, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink” comes to my mind several times a day. 

[The above paragraph barely scratches the surface of Sarah’s eating issues.  But moving on…]

So I often blame her lack of energy to her lack of nutrition.  I recognize that it’s terrible, no-good, and something needs to be done.  But I just have no idea what it would be.

And so we continue on, surviving, beating myself up. enjoying the good times (we do have some good runs).

But now I’m wondering… 

Is the lack of eating due to a lack of appetite?  And, if so, why would she have no appetite? 

Here’s my argument for the lack of appetite…  She does have foods that she likes.  Like croissant rolls, some cereals, and Quaker breakfast cookies.  But I can see her, on days like today, “suffer” through a few bites, and just give up altogether.  And if she has to go straight to bed for not eating dinner, she is fine with that!  Even if it is 5:30pm.

So if it truly is a lack of appetite.  Plus a lack of energy.  Fatigue.  What would it add up to??

If you’ve made it this far, any ideas?