An Ordinary Mom's Musings

I started out my children’s life by feeding them healthy food as most parents do. I trained them to be good at eating their fruits and vegetables.
Once while visiting family, (my children were 1 and 2 at the time), my sister tried to be a bad Aunt and entice them to eat dessert first before our meal, but my kids turned her down flat and asked for the freshly steamed green beans instead. Victory! I was teaching them to like healthy food and be healthy eaters!
Fast forward to current day- My children are now 10 and 11. They are much more likely to turn up their noses at green beans and go straight for dessert. What happened??
My son balances his diet out more than my daughter with vegetables and fruit. He will scarf down a Costco sized container of blueberries or tomatoes in one sitting. But he is just as likely to eat all the sugar straight out of the sugar bowl.
I think almost worse than losing their taste for good healthy food is the complaining that happens when I cook. Every night of the week, unless I’m ordering Pizza, someone is complaining about what’s to eat. And not just about what’s to eat, but how its cut, cooked, smells or looks like (and it’s not just my kids…) Wailing about every single meal. I can’t keep anyone in my family happy. Food is becoming a 4 letter word for me.
What they don’t understand is that I’m cooking them these homemade meals out of the kindness of my heart, and for argument’s sake, I’m not a bad cook. People enjoy what I cook usually. Yes, I could let them eat pizza and fast food 3 meals a day, but I don’t believe that is healthy nor is it economical. And I have my Mother’s Scottish blood running through my veins which compels me to be frugal.
I have learned a few things along the way that have helped and I want to share those with you so that you can have a better experience than I did.

• Cook with your kids. Involving them in the process teaches them a necessary life skill and exposes them to different foods and their favorite foods in different forms. They get to see that tomato that they love to eat whole, made into the salsa they have previously refused to even look at.
• We have a rule in our family that you need to try one bite of everything on your plate. If you don’t like it you don’t have to eat anymore. (This excludes food that you are allergic to or have food intolerances for of course.) After two years of trying salmon in this way, cooked different ways and probably served once a month, my children both decided that they loved it. But it took two years of continually asking them to try it. If it is a particularly repulsive food to them, start with them first just having it on their plate. Once they can handle that, have them touch it or put it on their utensil. Then moving on to the one bite rule.
• Don’t, or only occasionally buy the food that you consider unhealthy. If it’s not in the house they won’t eat it (and neither will you) and likely they won’t like it when they do try it. But if you do, don’t feel guilty about it. It’s not going to ruin their life. For example, I grew up drinking Kool-Aid, and grape was my favorite. It’s filled with sugary goodness. My children have never had it as I give my children 100% juice. One day I was feeling nostalgic and bought some, brought it home and had my kids try it. They thought it was awful. They had never had it before. My children would much rather have juice than a punch. Pro tip- Instead of soda, mix juice with sparkling water. Then they won’t need soda either.
• Spend some time thinking out of the box, instead of chicken nuggets and pizza. Children can surprise you and enjoy a sophisticated palette if given the chance. Give them hummus to dip their veggies in and play with. Or make it fun. As one nutritionist told me- Ketchup is full of lycopene. Let them have ketchup on everything.
• Do NOT become a short order cook. Even the Mayo clinic recommends that. Let them be the bad guy. “The doctor says you should stay here in your seat, even if you don’t want to eat, and just spend time with us.”

Use good judgment when determining whether it is a bigger problem and discuss the issue with your child’s pediatrician
This food thing is hard. I know. I’m living it. But for the sake of our kids, we have to win this marathon.