People often don't believe that my kids eat salad, or think it's some kind of miracle. They do eat salad and even request "big salad night" at least once a week. And it's not a miracle, and I don't have to force it on them...anymore.
I'm a big meanie, yes, I realize that. I clean the house, I cook the meals, I make the rules. Anyone that lives in my house can live by my rules, or they can make their own meals and clean their own dirty undies. That includes everyone from ages 1 through 41! When I make dinner and put it on the table, you can eat what I made, or you can eat nothing. Actually, that's not even quite true. Before you leave the table you have to take 3 bites of each thing on your plate. There is always more than one thing on a plate and you can't dislike everything...if you do, you'll starve anyway. If you want dessert, you have to finish just about everything (about 80%). And no one leaves the table until we're all finished eating (except Paddy, because if we waited for that kid to finish we'd be there all night, he can't shut up long enough to eat). These have been the rules from day one, even the 2 year old knows.
My kids are "good eaters" because they never had a choice to be anything but. They also never had sweets, or junk food before they had established healthy and varied eating habits. No, it wasn't easy, but it was easier than making several different meals each night. My kids never went hungry, and were never even anywhere near underweight. They don't like everything, but they try everything...because they don't have a choice. So now we have "big salad night". They get a plate of lettuce and get to add anything they want, cucumbers, pasta, celery, turkey, etc...And they usually end up with a nice dessert!
No comments:
Post a Comment