Barrister's obnoxious thread full of smug parenting stories

[Grey Fox]

Forming healthy eating habits is a damn big bother, I agree.

[Valmy]

Forming healthy eating habits is a damn big bother, I agree.

Fortunately as an American I just have to prevent them from weighing north of 300 to consider myself successful.

[Grey Fox]

As a Canadian, I get to pick either American or European standards.

Picking American standards, makes life much easier.

[crazy canuck]

I dont know why you guys insist on making them eat.

[merithyn]

I use the It's ok if you don't want to eat anymore but the next time you eat will be tomorrow morning at breakfast strategy.

It works fairly well.

That was my plan of action. It worked great... until the boys realized we had a pantry filled with foods they liked... and we slept at night.

The padlock went on the pantry when we found all of the empty cheesy cracker wrappings stuffed behind the flour. 

How old were they when that happened?

3

[Valmy]

3

That is totally something David would do.  He thinks he is so smart it is adorable.

[Barrister]

I use the It's ok if you don't want to eat anymore but the next time you eat will be tomorrow morning at breakfast strategy.

It works fairly well.

That was my plan of action. It worked great... until the boys realized we had a pantry filled with foods they liked... and we slept at night.

The padlock went on the pantry when we found all of the empty cheesy cracker wrappings stuffed behind the flour. 

How old were they when that happened?

3

Oy vey.

Timmy's turning 4 on Saturday and has never come close to such a trick.  He's a pretty sound sleeper though.  The only problem these days is if he does wake up in the middle of the night he just comes and crawls into our bed.

[merithyn]

The trick, I'm led to believe, is too serve them their supper again for breakfast, lunch, etc until they eat it.

I never bothered with that. I made one meal per meal time. They could eat it or not. Up to them. If not, they didn't get dessert, nor anything else to eat until the next mealtime. No exceptions.

Mind you, I also subscribe to the belief that kids won't starve themselves, and eventually, they're going to eat something. I also made a concerted effort to make foods that were good for them and that they'd eat. If they didn't like green beans but I wanted to make them for dinner, I would make sure there were raw carrots on the plate, too, so they could skip the green beans and still get something healthy and tasty.

I was also a master at renaming foods to make them something interesting. For instance, green beans were submarine boats (we had green army men and boats and the green beans looked kind of like those), so the boys loved them. Eggs and toast - cut a circle out of the center of the bread, cook the egg in the center of the bread, call it a Pirate's Eye, and call it a day. Goulash became American Mix. ("You're an American, aren't you? Oh, then you should really try this. It's made just for Americans.")

Meals were rarely a battle, and my kids will try just about anything. Not one of them is a picky eater now.

[Admiral Yi]

Sounds like you cribbed from A Tree Grows.

[merithyn]

Oy vey.

Timmy's turning 4 on Saturday and has never come close to such a trick.  He's a pretty sound sleeper though.  The only problem these days is if he does wake up in the middle of the night he just comes and crawls into our bed.

Remember that I had two at once. What one didn't think of, the other did.

[merithyn]

Sounds like you cribbed from A Tree Grows.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?

[crazy canuck]

I also made a concerted effort to make foods that were good for them and that they'd eat. If they didn't like green beans but I wanted to make them for dinner, I would make sure there were raw carrots on the plate, too, so they could skip the green beans and still get something healthy and tasty.

I was also a master at renaming foods to make them something interesting. For instance, green beans were submarine boats (we had green army men and boats and the green beans looked kind of like those), so the boys loved them. Eggs and toast - cut a circle out of the center of the bread, cook the egg in the center of the bread, call it a Pirate's Eye, and call it a day. Goulash became American Mix. ("You're an American, aren't you? Oh, then you should really try this. It's made just for Americans.")

Meals were rarely a battle, and my kids will try just about anything. Not one of them is a picky eater now.

Yeah, thats pretty much what we did.  I think all kids go through picky stages.  The trick is to get through that without getting involved in power struggles and drama. 

[Admiral Yi]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?

Yeah.  Her mom made up names for food too.

[crazy canuck]

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn?

Yeah.  Her mom made up names for food too.

Is there a parent that hasnt done that? 

[Valmy]

Just to clarify I was not trying to make Henry eat anything.  He wanted some brownies and I said he could have some if he ate some of his beans.  He just could have walked away from the Brownies at any time.  But no!  Battle Royal ensued and it was funny.