I decided to address an issue which seems to be a constant battle in this household – food. As this is indeed ‘an ordinary moment’ for this family, it seemed to fit perfectly into this post.
Way back when the kids were first-born I made a plan to ween them onto freshly made fruits and vegetables, all of which my husband and I peeled, chopped, puree and then placed into ice-cube trays to freeze. We then placed the frozen cubes into plastic bags, which we then labelled with the date and contents. Following this we followed Annabel Karmel and Gina Ford recipes for a wide range of nutritious meals all of which our children ate.
Fast forward a few years down the line and we now have two very fussy eaters. I’m not entirely sure where I/ we went wrong, we followed every inch of guidance we could find when it came to food yet here we are, making different meals for either kids like some sort of buffet bar each and every meal time.
We once had such a wide variety of options to offer the kids, they would eat almost anything that they were given. Sadly this is no longer the case and as I refuse to push the kids to tears whilst at the dinner table (believe me I’ve been there and done that, I’ve also worn the vomit covered t-shirt as evidence) I/ we have decided to ‘go with the flow’ and to avoid arguments, we simply keep trying to introduce new foods and tastes over time.
It would help if the kids ate the same things but whilst J is quite happy to feast upon pasta by the sack-load, E on the other hand wouldn’t entertain the idea. Thankfully they both eat fruit, a vast amount of fruit too which is all very well but then veg is another issue…
A few years ago we came up with the idea of introducing soups to the kids, each soup was filled with five or more vegetables (to cover the five-a-day theory) and they both seem to eat it, so long as they have plenty of bread to soak up the soup that is. Luckily, we’ve managed to steer to the kids into scoffing a good range of bread, none of which is white and most of which is either home-made or ‘best of both’.
I feel kind of embarrassed having to explain that whilst our kids eat their vegetables, it’s only in a puree form. It feels as if all the other kids are happy munching away at nutritious meals, whilst ours on the other hand scream blue murder should you suggest trying anything resembling any colour.
Kids will be kids, I don’t wish to give them grief over their food habits. I myself have suffered shouting over the table whilst I was a child and it didn’t do me any good. I think the more that adults push the issue, the more that kids will rebel and in the long run will associate food with bad feelings. Whilst my kids diets aren’t the healthiest in the World, they are far from the worst. I believe we at least have a healthy attitude in how we deal with the dilemma of dinner time.
There’s always hope that with time things will improve; I didn’t eat a curry until I was almost fourteen years old, yet now I love the stuff! J has already started to express interest in new foods, he finds new textures and tastes quite daunting but is at least giving it a go, unlike his sister but give it time…
Whilst Paul was busy at work the other day, I decided to get creative in the kitchen, by which I mean spin the kids a yarn that we were all out of what they wanted. I showed them what appeared to be empty cupboards, I then opened the fridge to display a range of fruits, vegetables and healthy options which they could choose from instead. I told them that the shop was shut and then explained that they’d have to ‘make do’ and that they did!
E may have managed to find a bag of Wotsits to accompany her meal but I let that slide in exchange for an easy dinner. Neither kid complained, neither kid cried and both of them ate all of their dinner without so much as a whimper. Their plates were literally clean by the time they had finished, they had each eaten a large amount of fruit, J had managed some chopped carrots and E had even tried something new – red grapes (I know it’s not a huge step but it’s at least edging in the right direction). To celebrate their success I magically found a jelly for desert and rewarded each of them with twenty minutes i-Pad time.
It may be a battle but it’s a battle which I hope to eventually combat through patience, persistence, perseverance and outright bribery should it be required.
Thanks for reading! I look forward to catching up with your #TheOrdinaryMomentsΒ posts either through your own posts or comments upon this post.
2 comments
I am so relieved that A and T both eat really happily. There isn’t much they don’t eat. I think any time you can make a step forward is a great thing. Often I think children know they can choose when it comes to food and so having a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude where dinner is concerned works x
Itβs such a tough thing to have to go through as we are judged by my folks for having fussy eaters.