I can't believe they eat THAT!

Copied from Mommy in Motion.

That's a comment I tend to get a lot when people who don't know us very well see S and F sitting down to dinner. It's usually "I can't believe they eat that", "My child would never try that" "Why aren't they picky like other kids?"

I don't think we do anything all that spectacular with our children, but people seem to think that we do. It's normal for us, though.

For starters- I am not a chef or a caterer, and our kitchen is not a cafeteria or a restaurant. I make one dinner and one dinner only. Family members can eat it or not- but nothing else is going to be made. I'm not a Burger King- special orders DO upset me! Because of this, though, my kids simply aren't that picky. Sure, they have things they won't eat. Neither child will touch a tomato (although they do like tomato soup) and F is very anti-pickle. Those things don't bother me.

We also have a rule about tasting everything. S is five, so he has to take five bites of everything on his plate. F, who is three, has to take three bites. After five (or three) bites, if they still say "I don't like that" or "I don't want that"- it's fine. As long as they give it a shot, I don't really care. In my experience- getting them to try something is most of the battle. With S in particular, most of the balking is because something is new or looks different, and before five bites are gone he has decided he likes it.

One thing our family doesn't seem to understand about the "bites rule" is that it is NOT a bribe. It's not "try 5 bites and you can have dessert" or "try three bites and then I'll make you something else" I don't want to teach them that they have to eat healthy foods to get a reward- I want them to eat them simply because they ARE healthy foods!

The other thing we do (or try to do, as often as possible) is offer reasonable choices. I try to make 2 veggies with every meal, and as long as they have one on their plate, I am happy. If there is a food they have tried several times and still do not like, I don't make them eat it (hence the tomato ban S & F have going on!) I still offer it, but I don't like to force them to eat it, or they will never really like it.

I don't think these things are that unusual, and I am certain we are not the only parents who do this. It works for us though, and I am happy about that. One thing I do try to do that I have noticed many parents (in our circle, at least) don't do is be upfront. My SIL for example- tells her kids that everything is chicken. Having pork for dinner? It's chicken. Beef? Chicken again. We don't do that. If my kid's ask "what's this?" I tell them. It gets mixed results. F usually says "oh, I don't like spinach" and we have to resort to the three bite rule. S usually just says "oh, ok" and tries it. I think he just wants to know what he is putting into his mouth (which isn't a bad idea!)