<vent> I wanted to just get a brief vent off my chest. Mostly to get it documented somewhere besides all the other obvious places.
S9 has a growing eating and weight problem. I think I've mentioned it before. I trying to do my part to ensure that he eats as healthy as possible while he and his little brother are with me, but it seems to becoming an uphill battle. The weeks they are with their mother, she now feeds them atrociously. I cannot believe she can be so utterly stupid. Constantly feeding them deep-fried foods. Buys them heavy desserts and empty calories that some might consider to be cruel and unusual punishment.
I'll give you a couple of examples just from this week. This weekend while buying them ice cream from the 31 flavors place she also picked up boatloads of donuts and other pastries. They had donuts of various assortments morning time and after dinner for dessert. Not only did S9 get a jelly-filled donut after dessert, but also a slice of cherry pie too. And as if that weren't bad enough, her new husband had fried them all a dinner of french fries and pork nuggets! Pork nuggets! As if deep-frieing otherwise lean chicken wasn't enough, they had to start off with high-fat pork instead. Might as well put breading on lumps of lard.
I know and understand many people have problems with their diet. I do understand. But this is, to me, absolutely ridiculous! My arteries were clogging up just thinking about their diet these last three days!
I know there's really very little I can do to combat what xW and her Jabba the Hutt husband feed my kids when they're with them. The mother can almost do no wrong in the eyes of the court, right? So I'm trying to keep my peace about this. But it impacts my ability to parent my sons when they're with me. Oh, of course, the boys have come to love their high-fat, high-sugar, overindulgent diets. It's gotten to the point where my S's are dissatisfied with much of what I prepare them now by contrast. I try to reward S9 for choosing healthier options but it is a constant struggle.
Heavy weight tends to run in some members of my family, especially on my father's side. I was somewhat overweight myself over six years ago -- until the doctor prescribed Weight Watchers (as a preliminary solution for Sleep Apnea). My kid brother was the one in my immediate family who had the serious life-long weight problem -- until he had a heart attack at age 36. And then he started seeing the light himself. For my youngest brother, who now suffers Diabetes atop everything else, to see pictures and video of S9 today and to make comments about getting his nephew's health back in order means a lot coming from him.
I don't really know what to do. It seems every time I see S9 a week after his mother has him, he looks even more heavy. (And it's hard enough keeping clothes on a growing boy without all this unnecessary stuff.)
I can mention it to the PC, but I can predict he'll say that as long as the children are "happy", there's nothing for him to do. Seems to be his canned answer to everything now of days.
And I'd try to involve the pediatrician, to see if she might raise a flag about S9's growing weight problem. But she had plenty of opportunity during their last physicals in January -- and if the doctor said anything then, xW surely has ignored her.
I don't think I'm overreacting. In fact I am amazed at how emotionally restrained I feel about this, despite the ache in my heart about what this is doing to the long-term health of my S's. What can you do?
