Okay, maybe you have this problem, also. My kids only eat food you’d find on a children’s menu. You know, the usual suspects: grilled cheese, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, pizza, burgers, buttered noodles, etc. I could list the health content in these meals, but let’s just agree to call it nil. Where did I go wrong? It’s not like I didn’t try to introduce them to a vast selection of wholesome foods. No, I’ve never pulled one of those, “you can’t get up from the table until you finish your cauliflower” diatribes, but I fed them every healthy baby food I could find on the shelves. They ate broccoli, spinach, carrots, and even that gross smelling Turkey dinner meal that was pureed and mashed into a jar. Now, a turkey dinner comes from Subway, and is filled with little turkey or anything else of nutritional value – basically, we’re talking about a dolled up grilled cheese sandwich.
At my house, I’m required to make two meals each night, one for the adults and one for the kids. As you can imagine, I spend a lot of time picking at the kids’ meals, which only makes me resent this process more. I’ve tried making one meal, but then my kids don’t eat, and the neurotic irrational side of me is certain they’ll starve or at least suffer extreme lethargy and be incapable of helping me around the house. Who am I kidding; they rarely help around the house when they’ve got boundless energy.
In my quest to broaden my children’s consumption horizons, I’ve found a great tip that may at least help them try new foods. Let’s face it, they’re past the age of Green Eggs and Ham, however positive reinforcement does still seem to work. Remember star charts? I give a star each time they try a new food. Your stars can translate into whatever has value to your kids: video games, dessert, or cold hard cash – my son’s personal favorite. The idea is to at least get them to put the food in their mouths without feeling coerced. Well, bribery is somewhat coercion, but think big picture. Since we’ve began the “Star System,” I’ve added tilapia, smoked salmon, and celery to my cooking repertoire. These results certainly suggest that it’s worth a try. If it doesn’t work, make sure they take a multi-vitamin, and take comfort in the fact that you probably won’t be serving chicken finger entree at their weddings.
