Ugghh… it’s not always easy- even in my house.

So, many people think that my kids always eat well— without a fuss.  But you know if you read my blog that that is not always the case.  A few nights this week have been especially difficult with my middle son.  Each time I put dinner on the table he whined and cried that he didn’t want to eat what we’ve made.  And when I say he whines and cries… he whines and whines and whines then cries.  It’s not always easy to ignore (especially when I’m PMSing) but I don’t give in and eventually he comes around. 

Except several nights ago I did let him eat something besides the dinner I made.  It was a delicious chicken fried rice— brown rice, chicken, kale, beet greens, Chinese cabbage, red cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, egg, red bell pepper, garlic, ginger, leeks, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, ground pepper.  He cried and cried.  He said he liked many of the ingredients, just not all together.  I compromised once he was calm and could talk rationally. I said if he ate another 20 forkfulls (basically more than half) then he could get something else.  I wanted to make sure he ate the most nutritionally important food before the yogurt and pasta.  By compromising I’ve potentially set myself up for more whining in our future.

The next night my husband made bucatini spaghetti with a delicious sausage tomato sauce and a salad.  We both couldn’t believe he whined about that one!  He wanted the pasta plain with butter and no salad.  But we remained firm.  He ate it.  All of it.  Even his salad. 

Plus it was fun to eat!

I feel that I chose my battles again.  I know my middle son doesn’t really like those one dish meals where everything is combined.  I felt the compromise wasn’t really giving in (fooling myself?) because he still ate the majority of the meal.  It is so much easier to always give them what they want.  Unfortunately, easy isn’t always best for them.  But it does get easier.  He will keep trying new things and getting a taste for them and I will figure ways to satisfy us both.