Picky Eaters

As some of you who know me already knows that my son is a very picky eater.  Dinner time was starting to become the most dreaded part of my day.  Up to about age 2, he ate everything we gave him.  Then, after that he wanted nothing to do with the foods he loved and ate every day.  Hello!  What happened?!?  So, for years, I went on this "I'm not a short-order cook, he will eat what I serve."  Years people!  Well, my son is stubborn. (Don't know who he gets that from?) There were many nights, he sat at the dinner table for hours, and wouldn't eat.  He would cry and throw fits.  We tried it all.  A "try new food" chart, rewards with something he liked, and even resorted to "if you don't eat it, your going straight to bed."  There were some nights, he would say "I don't want to eat it, can I just go to bed."  OH MY!  I wanted to rip my hair out!

I have even tried deception without success.  He always knew, even if my husband didn't know.  Very few things I can deceive him on eating.  Like using black beans to make brownies, that's a hit.  I recently bought a new book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfield.  A sister-in-Christ had recommended it to me after desperately pleading for advice and help with this situation.  So, I will begin to give this a whirl and see if there is something new in it that I have not tried and keep you posted.  Right now, I have resorted to the being the short-order cook.  I will give him choices.  For breakfast, do you want cereal or a waffle?  Lunch usually is the same thing:  peanut butter or cheese sandwich, vanilla yogurt and raisins.  Dinner I will usually tell him what we are having for dinner and ask him if he wants some of it.  Some stuff he will eat, just not all together.  For example, if we're having tacos, he will eat the shell with cheese in it, but not the meat.  Spaghetti, he'll eat the noodles, but not the sauce.  So, to make dinner smoother and to "stop kicking the dead horse" we have resorted to this and its much better.  If he doesn't eat, he doesn't eat.  He's offered it, given a plate of food, and so be it.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking, and trust me, we preach it to him too.  "Daddy works hard at a job God gives him to provide us food to eat and Mommy works hard preparing this food, so show respect and eat it."  Well, we say it.  But at almost 6 years old, how much of this does he understand?  Maybe it will click one day, but for now, we say it and try to make dinner time a more enjoyable experience for all of us.

Ephesians 6:4 "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but raise them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

1 comment:

  1. This is great advice! As of now Melly eats everything, except for lima beans, but I'm sure the day will come when that's not the case. I have heard of the DD cookbook. Good luck, I hope it works.

    ReplyDelete