It’s kind of strange to notice how many people these days are carrying a water bottle around with them. Every parent with a young kid knows you can’t send them to daycare, or soccer, or tumbling class, without one.
But what’s stranger still is just how new this is.
Do you remember having a water bottle when you were a kid? Do you remember once, ever, your parents making sure you were drinking enough water? If anything, you probably remember having to ask permission to drink water from a fountain in school—as if it was something kids like to do and not, you know, a basic life-sustaining human function.
We talked before about how so many of our children’s behavioral issues (as well as our own) can be traced to whether they’re eating enough. But we should add hydration to that list too. That’s why they’re grouchy. That’s why you’re making bad decisions. That’s why they’re lethargic, overheated, distracted, uncomfortable, frustrated.
They’re not drinking enough water! Or worse, they’re drinking too much unhealthy stuff that’s actually dehydrating them.
Behavior is the language of children. They’re telling you that they’re thirsty. It’s an easy problem to fix. One whose solution doesn’t just come in a bottle, it comes right out of your kitchen sink.
