FAMILY MATTERS
Hungry youngsters never seem to get enough
By Ka'ohua Lucas
"I'm starving," my 9-year-old announced as he slid into the back seat of our van.
"Why are you so hungry?" I asked, moving into the flow of traffic. "Didn't you eat lunch at school?"
"I did, but they only gave me this much," he said, placing the tips of his fingers together to form a small circle.
Most every day when I pick my boys up from school, they're famished.
I urge the youngest to take a snack. But he turns up his nose. "We don't have any good snacks in the house."
I buy tubs of pretzels and rice crackers from Costco. Arare, wasabi peanuts and banana chips from Wholesale Unlimited. But they don't last long.
"There's nothing to eat in the house," the 12-year-old complains, standing in front of the refrigerator with the door wide open.
Every day is like a big lu'au for them.
They are not satisfied to pick on grapes and munch on melba toast. They need food that fills their 'opu (stomachs).
Even our daughter, who is willow-thin, requires large portions of food to become ma'ona (satisfied after eating).
"What do you feed her?" a colleague asked when my daughter was only 11 years old. "Grass and parsnip? The poor girl is starving!" At the time, my daughter was shoveling forkfuls of a hamburger steak plate lunch from Rainbow's. It looked like she hadn't eaten for a week.
"She had lunch just three hours ago," I argued. "She shouldn't be THAT hungry."
"Well it's obvious that Hoovalani (a play on Hoover vacuum cleaner) is starving!"
Sometimes I feel like I should be in the restaurant business. With breakfast pau and the kitchen cleaned, two hours later I'm figuring out what to make for lunch. If I don't insist on making them a decent meal, then my family will be left to their own devices.
The youngest has a sweet tooth. He will sneak spoonfuls of brown sugar. Or grab a packet of hot chocolate mix and eat the powdery substance. One day, I busted him with a mouthful of frozen cookie dough.
I never have to force my children to eat. My challenge is trying to keep up with them. And trying to be creative in providing a healthy snack.
As I pulled away from the curb, I told my son that I had brought him something from home.
In a small cooler, I had packed "gogurt," several oranges, soda crackers and a bottle of orange juice.
"Geez, Mom," he complained, chewing on a fingernail. "I thought you would get me a quarter-pounder with cheese and a large order of fries!"
Eh, bruddah, what you think? This one big lu'au?
Reach Ka'ohua Lucas at Family Matters, 'Ohana section, The Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802; fax 525-8055; or ohana@honoluluadvertiser.com.
