Food is Love

My children lost one of their great grandmothers over the weekend. The funeral is today. And while I'm not certain how much of anything Baby grasps, the Boy is having trouble. While we were having dinner last night, I let him know I'd be picking him up early from school, where we'd be going, what would be happening.

And the poor little thing was trying so hard to be brave. He was asking questions, and as I answered, he just kept saying "ok" and taking these big gulps of air in as his little chin quivered. And finally I said, "baby, it's ok to cry. It's ok to feel sad or scared." And he burst out crying and climbed up on my lap, in a way he hasn't done in quite a while.

And once he stopped crying, my first thought was to take them out for dessert. Once they had finished a reasonable amount of dinner, we piled in the car and headed to Eat n Park for a bear claw. I didn't stop to think what I was doing until we had ordered.

So how much of feeding our emotions is nature and how much is nurture? Almost all of my memories of my father's mother involve her cooking. Most of the family traditions I've tried to pass on to the boys center around eating. Would I be more cautious of loving them with food if they were girls? If we had weight issues?

I don't know. I know we are going to a funeral and after there will be food. Lots of fattening food.