“Is like I just working to feed them,” has been the refrain of many mothers – myself included – as they struggle to upkeep their children’s eating habits over the past few months.
When COVID-19 became a reality in Guyana and the country was forced to close the doors of schools many parents had to make quick adjustments to accommodate their children, including higher food bills.
“I have never spent so much money on food. This like all strange to me and is not just daytime, these children eating all hours in the night,” one mother said, laughing, but also with frustration in her voice.
While mothers of younger children talk about packet snacks being devoured, those with older children find that they take over the kitchens and not even the meat and grocery items are being spared.
While some might want to stay that this is a frivolous matter, many sisters are finding difficult to put food on the table for their children while others are enduring abusive situations.
I believe that ballooning food bills due to children being at home every day, is cause for concern.
“When they first say no school, I say like I would spend less on food because you know I don’t have to try to find special things to send the children to school and for like the first week it was okay. But then I notice that the children eating everything that could be eaten, and I have to be buying often sometimes twice a week,” one sister told me.
“And when they eat out everything, they would be opening the fridge and looking inside like if something would miraculously appear or every 20 minutes I hearing the sentence, ‘I hungry,’ sometimes it is like I am going out of my head,” she continued.
For those mothers who have been working outside the home, trying to hide items has not worked. As one sister said, it was as if her children are trained detectives and they sniff out everything and when she gets home things she thought she had hidden were no more.
Of course, as I said earlier, there are those sisters who cannot afford to provide food in abundance for their children.
“I would cook, and I would leave, that is all I can afford. When I buy ration at the end of the month and buy a few biscuits and so on and my children eat it out in three days they can’t get any more until I get paid again,” a mother of four told me.
“So, the most I can do for them is cook in the morning, make something for breakfast and that is it. If they get hungry and want something else well I sorry for them because there is nothing else I can do,” she added.
“I does keep telling them that at least I still have a job to go to and I can pay the rent and light bill because some people don’t have no job. We have our rice and stew and at least is something,” she said matter-of-factly.
UNICEF advises mothers with young children to:
Continue to breastfeed,
Provide a variety of foods and regular meals,
Give healthy snacks and plenty of water,
Avoid manufactured baby foods and formula milks.
Those with older children who are at home are advised to set regular meal and snack times to avoid all-day grazing. And if it is affordable, to serve 3 meals and 1 to 2 scheduled snacks each day. When it is time to eat, children should sit at the table and not in front of a screen.
I know the above is a big issue as children want to spend all their waking hours in front of a screen if it is available. We need to control this as much as we can.
Not eating in front of the screen means that the children are focused on the food in front of them and are less likely to overeat.
And while chips, cookies, and ice cream are okay once in a while, they should not be available every day. Parents are urged to keep junk food and treats out of the house, so children are not tempted. And save sugary drinks, like soda, juice, sports drinks, and sweet teas for special times, offering them water and milk instead.
And mothers please remember that while packaged foods and prepared meals are convenient, they can be high in fat, sugar, and calories.
Encourage your children to be active for least 30 minutes each day. Whenever possible, let them go outside and play, go for a walk, run, bike ride, or play sports.
I must say I have no issues with the above as my boys can spend hours outdoors and that is one thing I am always thankful for.
Furthermore, don’t allow the children to stay up late as getting enough sleep has many health benefits, and helps children keep a healthy weight. Sisters you are encouraged to help your children to get to bed on time and wake up at the same time every day. Skip daytime naps for older children and turn off all screens at least one hour before bed.
We all know that the coronavirus pandemic has changed the world in many ways. I have written in the past about the difficulty parents have with their children being schooled at home and how more than have half of the country’s population cannot afford online learning. In the public schools, especially, hundreds are children have suffered and some have had no schooling since March.
COVID-19 has really turned the world upside down, but I want to encourage sisters to assist each other whenever we can. There are many sisters and their children who are suffering in these times.
