I was reading old emails and found one about my darling and food. In this email, Natasha had been home for 13 months after being adopted from a specialized (think handicapped) Ukrainian orphanage. I had forgotten how she used to beg food off strangers.


The above picture is of Natasha in front of her "food cabinet".


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Natasha has food issues. She has been home for 13 months and still has some problems walking away from food. If we are at a restaurant she feels a strong urge to see what other people are eating. When she first came home she would beg food from other people at restaurants. And after we finished eating, she would try and clean off the table.


When she first got home and for about 3 months, she would go with anyone who had food. I decided not to control her eating. Rather I wanted to reassure her that food and water was always available.


I gave her a cabinet. She could take any food out of this cabinet when she wanted. This meant she was eating 8 snacks a day, but she was less focused on food. I gave Natasha control over her food and water intake and she relaxed a little bit. Sometimes she would go to the cabinet just to do inventory and count food. All this behavior has stopped.


Natasha was 3.5 years old when she came home, but developmental she was probably about 2.5 years to 18 months old.


She has gone though a lot of developmental stages and I just tried to treat her appropriately. If she was behaving like a two year old then I treated her like a two year old. It greatly helped.


What struck me as strange was Natasha's cleaning behavior. My daughter was the largest child in her group. And I have heard of children doing work around the orphanage for extra food. My daughter washing clothing in the bathtub. She swept, cleaned dishes, wiped down walls and floors. I really believe that my 3.5 year old daughter was a "helper" at her orphanage.


To be continued in part two.