Picky Eaters (and what it has taught me)
I have a picky eater. Maybe two picky eaters, really. I'm not sure. What I do know is that I have a picky eater AND a strong-willed child. It's a difficult combination.
This taught me a lot. It's taught me to work hard at something. We celebrate each bite of a healthy food. It's taught me that I'm not really in control of some things (after all, you cannot physically force someone to swallow food, and it is cruel to try to make that happen). And it's taught me to pick my battles.
I know a lot of families have the rule, "if you don't eat what I make, you don't eat." I understand that. But I'm not willing to pick that battle, not with my strong-willed kid. Instead, I'm ok with "eat what I made OR eat this healthy alternative." This works in our family.
Here's a sample meal that Graham will eat:
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Graham does not like meat, the only exception being bacon. He does enjoy some nuts, whole milk plain yogurt with honey, and cheese. That is where he gets most of his protein. Graham is the picture of health and is growing beautifully, so I feel that what he eats is working :)
I still get discouraged that he won't eat the casseroles and soups, or meat. But he has learned to eat several more veggies and fruits in the past year. We are proud of his progress. For a strong willed little guy, he's doing well.
We have to watch sugar, of course. And this boy would eat and entire bag of chips or box of crackers if given the chance. There are always things we could improve on.
Patrick is overall a better eater, but has gotten pickier lately. Sometimes he will eat a whole bowl of broccoli or chicken pot pie, but other times not. He's such an unpredictable 2 year old.
Having picky eaters has taught me that I don't always need to make big meals. I love finding and cooking comfort food recipes. But lately I've tried to keep it simpler: scrambled eggs, bread and cheese, cut up veggies. Dinners like these are easier and cheaper. I make all our bread fresh and all 4 of us enjoy that. It's been good taking the dinners down a notch, especially during busy evening where I work or Graham has t-ball.
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How do you keep dinners easy? Do you have or are you a picky eater?
This taught me a lot. It's taught me to work hard at something. We celebrate each bite of a healthy food. It's taught me that I'm not really in control of some things (after all, you cannot physically force someone to swallow food, and it is cruel to try to make that happen). And it's taught me to pick my battles.
I know a lot of families have the rule, "if you don't eat what I make, you don't eat." I understand that. But I'm not willing to pick that battle, not with my strong-willed kid. Instead, I'm ok with "eat what I made OR eat this healthy alternative." This works in our family.
Here's a sample meal that Graham will eat:
Graham does not like meat, the only exception being bacon. He does enjoy some nuts, whole milk plain yogurt with honey, and cheese. That is where he gets most of his protein. Graham is the picture of health and is growing beautifully, so I feel that what he eats is working :)
I still get discouraged that he won't eat the casseroles and soups, or meat. But he has learned to eat several more veggies and fruits in the past year. We are proud of his progress. For a strong willed little guy, he's doing well.
We have to watch sugar, of course. And this boy would eat and entire bag of chips or box of crackers if given the chance. There are always things we could improve on.
Patrick is overall a better eater, but has gotten pickier lately. Sometimes he will eat a whole bowl of broccoli or chicken pot pie, but other times not. He's such an unpredictable 2 year old.
Having picky eaters has taught me that I don't always need to make big meals. I love finding and cooking comfort food recipes. But lately I've tried to keep it simpler: scrambled eggs, bread and cheese, cut up veggies. Dinners like these are easier and cheaper. I make all our bread fresh and all 4 of us enjoy that. It's been good taking the dinners down a notch, especially during busy evening where I work or Graham has t-ball.
How do you keep dinners easy? Do you have or are you a picky eater?
Despite other struggles, this is one area I feel we've really lucked out in with Ellie. For the most part, she is a great eater. But she is of course a toddler and therefore unpredictable...and would much rather eat goldfish and fruit snacks all the livelong day. ;) One thing that really helps us with the veggies: Smoothies! She loves them and it's an easy way to sneak in some spinach, carrots, etc.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya. I was just talking about how it seems like my kids collectively have been a nightmare when it comes to mealtime. Selah is our champion eater- even if it's something she doesn't like, she eats it anyway, with few exceptions, and she eats a lot. So funny, when we just had her we thought she was so strong-willed. Well, she was, but she was done with that by the age of 3 and is our most obedient child. Our kids have just gotten worse with each addition, hahaha. Eva does everything painstakingly slow, and food is no exception. Andrew is our pickiest eater; he would love to live on pb&j and spaghetti w/ sauce. Abraham likes everything for the first three bites, then he just wants to get out of his seat and will cry for the rest of the meal as we make him finish (because we know he's not even close to full, he just has the attention span of a flea). So, like I said, *collectively*, all that together.... makes for very tiring meal times. I've tried different things- not allowing them to get down until they've finished, no matter how long it takes (hours), only letting them have dessert if they finish by a certain time, plain-old disciplining when they complain or put up a fight, and other tactics. But lately I've been at my wit's end. The minute they start complaining, I've been sending them upstairs and they don't get to eat. I honestly am not sure it's very effective, but nothing else has been super effective (I'm looking for immediate results here haha), and like you said about choosing battles, by dinner time I've already fought it twice that day and I'm over it. Hahaha. Sorry to hijack your comments section, it looks like I could've written my own blog post about it LOL. but I enjoyed reading your post about it. In summary I can TOTALLY RELATE.
ReplyDeleteOh- and there is nothing like home made bread. Keep that up and your boys will be sure to faithfully return home as much as possible later in life... nothing will be be like "how momma made it". When you grow up on homemade, and then have to buy Store bought in college? forget about it!
ReplyDeleteHa I hadn't thought of that! By making homemade bread, I'm secretly ingraining in their minds that coming home to fresh bread is best :) They better always visit me!
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