There are four forces of flight, lift, weight, drag and thrust, which affect kites in the same way that they affect other things that are trying to fly, like airplanes. Or children.

Like many people, we indulged over the summer (lift and weight) and now we are back to school and routine (drag and thrust), which feels good.  

No one is interested in Pepsi (lift?) or Lucky Charms (weight?) or even adding to the weekly shopping list (a total drag).

I know that this is not the end of sugary cereal, while I also know that it will never again hold the power that it once did (flight!). We have reached our cruising altitude. 

I know this because food is no longer a big deal. The fight is gone. Sometimes the girls make their own dinner, most of the time they eat with us. Sometimes I will push vegetables or deny sweets because I see that they are not listening to their bodies, most of the time they manage themselves beautifully. I no longer dread dinnertime, or feel like the sole purveyor of nutrition in the house. 

I definitely changed right along with the kids. I needed to learn. all over again, to have confidence (lift) in my own way of eating, and in my body (weight). I also had to recognize that my kids may or may not have their own issues with food (drag), that will likely be different from my own. I can only teach them what I know for sure (thrust), which is that listening to your body is the best way to stay grounded in who you are. 

The final step is to take the spotlight off of all of us. This will be my last post in Feed Not Fight. I invite anyone who would like more discussion to contact me directly.

Mary Poppins arrives ostensibly for the children, to teach them how to tidy up and take their medicine with a spoonful of sugar. But she only departs when she is assured that Mr. Banks has the right balance of lift, weight, drag and thrust to fly a kite. Because she knows that then the kids will be just fine.