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Rochester Local

How I Got my Picky Kids to Eat

Most everyone I know speaks of Grandma’s cooking like its the holiest of holy. They speak of large, home-cooked meals and fabulous smells that fill the entire house.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my Grandmother – may she rest in peace. She was a diligent, hard-working woman and she knew how to make something out of nothing. When my family would traverse to Pennsylvania to visit every summer, though, I’d dread the meals that I’d have to endure as a child.

Often, I’d just have bread with spicy mustard instead of eating whatever it was that Grandma cooked. Sometimes my dad would slip me a few quarters to entice me to finish my vegetables. As an adult, I feel ridiculous even admitting this! I have so much more perspective now – and any home-cooked meal from Grandma is something that I should have cherished and gladly eaten, especially since I don’t have her around anymore. She never got to meet my children – she passed when I was 18. I’d give anything to eat one of her meals now – and I’d slip my kids quarters to silence their complaining while they ate it, too.

Now that I’m an adult, I love a lot of the meals that I disliked as a kid. Now, I get to experience what my parents experienced – a picky child (times three)! I read a blog post a while back that used the phrase “You don’t have to eat it.” That phrase has helped to calm quite a few meal tantrums. I won’t force my kids to eat what I make, but I won’t make anything else. They’re 14, 12, and 8 so they also can throw an Eggo in the toaster or grab a bowl of cereal instead of the meal I make, just as long as I don’t have to make it.

When we are not at home, however, they’re not given this option. I’ve found a phrase that has dramatically changed how my kids handle food they don’t like, and it’s SO simple.

If you eat food you don’t like, nothing bad will happen to you.

Nothing bad will happen if you eat it. So far they haven’t come up with a good enough rebuttal for this one. If we are a guest in someone’s house and my children look repulsed by the food, I gently remind them that they don’t have to like it, they just have to eat it, and nothing bad will happen. They may roll their eyes and only eat half of it, but it’s better than the wails and tears that used to happen whenever we sat down for a meal.

Another thing that has impacted how my children receive a meal is volunteering. My church sends a team up to Feed My Starving Children in Eagan about once a month. I bring all three of my kids (since kids ages 5+ are able to help pack meals) and we spend a two hour session packing meals that will be sent to hungry kids around the world. They tell you where the food is going, you work in an assembly-line fashion to pack it, then you pray over it and send it off. They share with you how many meals you made, and how many kids those meals will feed. They show videos before and after your packing session that have broadened my kids’ perspective on eating. They’re old enough to understand that they are privileged to have plentiful food and clean water.

people of various ages with hair netspeople of various ages with hair nets

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s no magic wand or secret to parenting that will make all of the challenges disappear. But one meal at a time, we can remind our kids that food and water aren’t available everywhere like they are here. Hopefully, my kids are learning how to be compassionate and grateful in the process, too.

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