One of my greatest struggles as a mother has been ensuring that my children eat healthy, nutritious food. I have many other strengths in parenting, like instituting sleep schedules and teaching manners, but getting my kids to eat lean meat, fruits and veggies is not one of them.
I
confessed this parenting failure some time ago and got tons of great advice from my readers in the comments. But two years passed and my kid still refused to put a vegetable in his mouth. I tried lots of tricks and manipulation.
Nothing worked.
Then one day at a restaurant, my husband offered my son a quarter if he would try eating a mushroom. Just one. Alex took that offer and scarfed down said mushroom. He said it wasn’t good, but wasn’t horrible, and he seemed immensely satisfied with his earnings.
So we tried it again a couple more times with different foods. Bribing with dessert had never worked but money did wonders. At least it got him to put a few foreign foods in his mouth, even if only once.
Gradually this trying new things started to become normal as Alex realized that the foods weren’t so bad and the taste or texture only lasted a few seconds on his tongue.
Then came the radical shift in our dinnertime meals when my husband was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. I
cut all carbs out of our regular evening meals, except for a roll or piece of bread for each child. No more noodles or french fries.
I replaced all these carbs with tons and tons of veggies. This was mainly to keep my husband satisfied and his blood sugar level, but I started adding more and more veggies to my kids’ plates too. Bigger portions of meat too, usually in the form of grilled chicken or steak.
They were allowed to use copious amounts of ketchup.
One day I discovered that if I actually pick up Alex’s fork, stab a piece of broccoli and feed him like a baby, he’ll eat it. All the begging and coercing for him to do it himself only served to wear us out, but feeding him one bite at a time myself emptied the plate.
I celebrated. We praised him for his empty plate. He was rewarded with ice cream.
I don’t care if I have to feed him like a toddler, he is now eating carrots, peas and broccoli, among other nutritious foods. The other day he ASKED for carrots. It’s a huge victory for team mom!
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Disclosure: I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective.
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One of my greatest struggles as a mother has been ensuring that my children eat healthy, nutritious food. I have many other strengths in parenting, like instituting sleep schedules and teaching manners, but getting my kids to eat lean meat, fruits and veggies is not one of them. 