The Terrible Night
So, I have this friend who is ALWAYS harping on me about how my kids are picky eaters and I shouldn't let them get away with eating what they choose instead of what I choose. Her kids of course eat like perfect little angels...they even eat fish! (yuck!) I have to admit that I would love it if we could just sit down as a family and ALL enjoy whatever it is I have prepared for the night. So Todd and I decided that last night was going to be the first night of "eating the same thing as a family".
I made one of my favorite dishes thinking that if I could just get Riley and Tanner to taste it they would love it and gobble it down. I put their food in front of them and tell them that this is it for dinner and that they could choose to eat it or not, but they wouldn't get anything else. Riley promptly pushes his food away and says that he is not hungry and leaves the table. This is happening while Tanner is trying to push his bowl off of his high chair. Okay, I knew that was going to happen so I wasn't panicking...yet. I tried again a few minutes later and they would still have none of it. By this time however Tanner is starting to wig because the poor kid is hungry and his mean mom is trying to force him to eat something he just doesn't want.
Then Todd comes home...and here is the best part...I LEAVE to go to my rehearsal. Have fun Todd! :) I think about him all throughout my rehearsal and call him the moment I am done to see how his night went...not well! Riley ended up in tears begging...BEGGING Todd for food. Finally Todd gave him 2 pieces of toast because we had soup for dinner and toast goes with soup right? Tanner however has already gone on that downward spiral and could not be consoled. So, Riley goes to bed starving and crying and Tanner goes to bed with a bottle and starving and crying. By the time I got home around 11pm, Tanner was awake again, for the third time, and crying his guts out. So I pull him out of bed and bring him to his high chair for a LATE dinner. I got him some goldfish crackers and applesauce. But, when I brought out the applesauce, it looked too much like the soup that I made and Tanner totally lost it! I thought he was going to throw up a lung he was crying and screaming so hard.
Needless to say, I want to throw my friend and her precious Dr. Sears out the window (her children can stay but the fish is going out with their mom!) :) I felt like such a horrible mother and will NOT be trying that again any time in the near future. When people say that children won't let themselves starve, they haven't met MY children.
6 comments:
Dear Riley & Tanner:
From a Granny who loves you both: keep up the independent attitude re: food - not only will you sleep well at night, but your parents will have complete confidence in your ability to make decisions and stick to them! Ignore anybody who promotes the importance of eating fish - you'll be fine without it! So...high five to your clever parents and kudos to you both!
Love, your Granny Annie
Thank you for the post Sara. I feel the same way. It would be so nice to sit and eat a meal together. My kids are getting pretty picky and if they don't eat well at meal time they are begging for a snack at bedtime! What to do? You are a wonderful mom! Your boys are probably too young to remember anything that went on last night. So don't worry about it. Take care
JoDee
Sara, I love your blog and can't believe it's the first time seeing it! :) I love to hear about your boys! I hate the dinner time drill... 2 more bites etc... We have a pretty picky 5 yr old and a not so picky 2 1/2 yr old! I think that someday we'll look back and miss those days but for now we just survive them!
-Sally
I feel your pain! Sam will not eat anything that we call "dinner", and even when we don't use the word dinner, he usually doesn't eat it. In the end, they all survive, whether they eat crackers or fish (ick!). I have found that people who are "experts" on certain parenting issues just have kids that don't have any problems there!
okay Mom, lesson #1, screw what other moms say. I hate that... you have your two boys and the spirit to lead you what will work for them. Anytime I have tried to go against that, I have been miserable. I can now ( after 12 years) ignore all other moms b/c I know I am doing the best I can with the three I have. It's what works for us and sometimes parenting is just survival. LOL
Another point, my two girls have serious real, texture issues. Our family rule is you have to take a bite ( b/c there is nothing wrong with Michael LOL and he needs to see them doing it) and if they really can't stand it, they are ALWAYS welcome to cereal or a PBJ. I will not make that for them, but at least they have 'control' of what they choose.
It gets under my skin so much when others judge any other parent. I remember Todd thinking some choice things about us w/ Michael and I just had to bite tongue LOL b/c I knew when parenting really set in, then reality would be the teacher. I have a friend who is mortified that I called the police on one of my kids this summer. But the counselor and I were working on some things and she encouraged it. HARDEST THING I HAVE EVER HAD TO DO, thsi friend is still pretty adamnet about how wrong I was, but you know, what? The problem was fixed and we haven't had to deal with it anymore.
Parenting sux, but as long as you are close to the spirit, and you and Todd are a team, then you will be just fine.
and for the record. Ande is eating a few things in the last year that she wouldn't EVER eat before b/c she didn't like them, but now all of a sudden, she does.
{{hugs mommie}}} and thanks for the invite!
Funny story! Now if you had a dog, you wouldn't feel bad about your kids not eating the food cuz Buster or Daisy would scarf it down in a second and you would always feel like someone or something loved your food. Oh, and I just saw a "Doctor" show and they actually said that some people/kids have "larger" taste buds then other kids. The larger the tastebuds, the more picky a person can be. Simply because their food may taste different from one child of a different family then another. For example, I can taste the smallest amount of fish in any dish. Don't ask me how, but I can. Anyways, a picky child may not be completely your fault....Well, it is your fault...cuz, Todd give him toast and you punished your child. So it's your fault! JOKING...;-) But it's still your fault.
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