Your toddler hasn't eaten anything but macaroni and cheese for three weeks and your third grader has eaten a bologna sandwich every lunch for the past two years.
Why are our kids such picky eaters? I'll be honest with you.
It's because we are.
Think about it.
Would you rather order what you want to eat at a restaurant or have someone order for you? Do you ever ask for something special - like hold the pickles, hold the lettuce? And when you cook dinner, do you make something you actually want to eat? Of course you do.
Our kids often frustrate us because they won't eat what we make for dinner.
Toddlers can be thrown into a rage by the very site of corn touching their meatloaf...
although they probably won't eat the meatloaf anyway.
So what's the solution? I've found a number of ideas that seem to work at our house and maybe you can try some of them out with your family.
oInstead of making up everyone's plate, serve food "family" style.
Serve everything separately and allow kids to have more control over what they eat.
Granted, you can't prepare a buffet every night, but you can prepare a plate of baked potatoes, a plate of plain burgers, plain lettuce, sliced tomatoes, cheese ...
you get the idea.
Provide a lot of healthy choices and then allow the child to decide what they'll eat.
oHave "build your own ___________" night.
Tacos, salads, burgers, stir fry.
Kids love it! oLet your kids help you cook and when they're old enough, let them cook one night a week.
Not only is this a great way to help kids learn a great skill and really feel like an important part of the meal, they want to eat because they are proud of what they helped prepare.
oGive kids a vote.
It's a pain trying to decide what to make for dinner every night anyway! Ask your kids if they'd prefer burgers or spaghetti, grilled cheese or chicken stir fry.
Just check to make sure you have the stuff to make what you're offering! oMy husband's family has a saying "Take all you want but eat all you take.
" Other families have a clean plate club rule too.
It's a good idea except that kids have no gauge.
They'll always take too much because when they feel hungry, they literally feel like they could eat an entire elephant.
A better way to approach meal time may be to suggest kids take a bit to start with and they can always come back for more.
This can help teach them a lifetime lesson in portion control.
Before they load up on seconds, ask them "are you still hungry?" Gauging their hunger can help them learn to stop eating once they're full.
I know it sounds simple, but it's a lesson many Americans never learned.
Finally, recognize that everyone has their pet peeves.
Trying to defeat them can be a losing battle.
Work with your kids.
Toddlers are notorious for their preference that food stay separated.
You can purchase plates that actually have separate areas so they (and you) won't have to live through the horror of mixed foods.
Try out a few ideas tonight and your picky eater may bloom into a gourmet!