Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Picky, Picky

I think it's an unspoken rule of thumb for all moms out there that at some point we fight with picky eaters. It just comes with the territory. Well, no I shouldn't say that because there are children like my cousin's oldest daughter. She's three years old and she will literally eat anything you put in front of her. So obviously there are exceptions to every rule.

But what if you have a picky eater? How do you manage a balanced diet? 
Linking up with Christine, Brittany, and Ashley for Mama Tells All

Mamas Tell All

Well, for starters I have to bring back one of my Blog Love Friday Favorites (from Meagan's link up) One blog I found from a mutual friend is Christina at The Mediocre Housewife. She's a professional blogger (you can see more stuff from her here), and a mom, and just such a wonderful writer. I love all of her stuff! A few weeks ago she wrote about Getting Toddlers to Eat. It hit me close to home because, well, my toddler (and preschooler) doesn't always like to eat. Christina compares getting toddlers to eat to Olympic events, and she's not wrong.

OK... so by now y'all are all rolling your eyes at me. I swear I have a point. Yes, getting picky eaters to eat nutritious food (or any food) can be like an Olympic event. So how do you handle it? Sorry, y'all but knee-jerk reactions of throwing a child-like temper tantrum doesn't count as a solution.
Patience. This is what works in our house. Patience and hidden fruits and vegetables. That's right, y'all I said it: I hide fruits and veggies in my kids diets. No, I don't buy the little fruit pouches to do so either. I buy frozen fruits and veggies and make smoothies. The kids (and I) have at least one smoothie a day to make sure we're all getting nutrients we need. I add spinach, and / or kale with fruit and you can't even taste it. Sure, it's green and gross looking but they love it! I also hide things like spinach in meatloaf. They never know the difference.

What about the patience thing though, Melissa? Good question. Obviously I can't feed my kids liquid 24/7. I do offer real meals in the house, and yes several of the real meals are met with looks of such disgust that you wonder if what you made is even edible. This is where your strength as a mom comes in real handy. The strength that allows you to sit on the opposite end of the table from your kids and give them the stare down with one look in your eye: "I will sit here all night if I have to". This would count as one of the Olympic events that gets an NBC highlight reel!
Eventually one of two things will happen:

  1. The kids give up and finally start eating because they're so overly hungry. They finally realize that they won't get the gummy snacks that they really want. They know if they really want the bite of ice cream that Daddy has (because he ate all of his dinner) then they will have to eat, too. 
  2. You lose your will power. You give up in the stare down and you compromise. ("OK, Zander, you can get up and go play but only if you eat all of your meatloaf and three big bites of green beans.") This way, the kid you still win because they eat enough to warrant some sort of nutrient but the kid thinks they win. Just be sure you don't let this option happen too often because then the kid thinks this is will happen all they time, and they will start bartering with you before dinner even starts. 
So that's a little of what happens in our house. I also add garlic to almost everything to try and give it a little flavor. How do you other moms approach picky eaters?
Because I love Anne so much and her Wednesday Wishes, I would like to send a wish  to the moms with picky eaters. I wish that this phase passes quickly for you and that you find some peace knowing that one day your children will love all of the foods that they probably hate right now. (Trust me, I didn't use to like rice and now I love it!)

Love the Here and Now

24 comments :

  1. I love the tip about making juice or smoothies! A great way to be sneaky. And a great wish at the end there. Thanks for linking up to Mamas Tell All!

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  2. You have some great ideas for getting the little ones to eat nutritious foods. I love that they drink smoothies everyday...brilliant!

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  3. Going to be saving this post for future use! Kyra isn't picky yet...but I have a feeling (knowing how her father is...) that I will have to deal with this issue some day!

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  4. thanks! :) I'm really lucky that for the most part I don't get any complaints. Especially when there's clearly bits of carrots and peas visible in the rice. And YES we are definitely a smoothie house! haha. Green smoothies are the best!

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  5. hehe, thanks! Sneaky-ness is the key sometimes, right? :)

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  6. save away my dear! I'm always happy to help. Hopefully your little one doesn't get to be too picky. We're lucky that our kids aren't too bad. not as bad as some.

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  7. My lovely preschooler won't eat smoothies either! So I've resorted to hiding veggies in muffins and cookies. Gotta do something, right?!

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  8. Garlic! My favorite! You sneaky, sneaky mom you!

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  9. *insert evil laugh here!* hey, if it makes the green beans and brussel sprouts taste better, why not?

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  10. Exactly! Zander LOVES smoothies though. For some reason though he prefers green ones over red ones. my strange kid for ya. LOL.

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  11. I think the hiding foods is the main common theme among every post I've read today! I love it! It would work for me, too! haha

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  12. Brilliant! I stopped by your blog strictly because the name caught my eye. So happy to see this post as it's something I struggle with DAILY.

    All I can say is thank god for garlic. My secret weapon too!

    V
    Life+1

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  13. Aw well, I'm so happy you stopped by!! :) Welcome! (I hope you come back!) hehe. Garlic is seriously amazing! I use lemon juice / zest quite a bit too. Whatever works. I'm sure one day my kids might hate it but for as long as it works, I take advantage. :)

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  14. I think you're right. from what I've seen a lot of moms are sneaky creatures. I'm pretty sure my mom did the same thing. I know she puts bell peppers in her spagheti sauces so who knows what else she has hidden

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  15. Kale and spinach are so nutritious and can be hidden in everything! Great tips!

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  16. thanks! Yeah, I'm so happy that I can sneak the good stuff in when I have to. for the most part they're good about eating. Ainsley is better than Zander. probably because we did baby led weaning with her and skipped the puree stage. At least that's what I tell myself. haha

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  17. Me & Kenzie love spinach! Especially spinach salads! <3 I always had to sneak some in Keiths smoothies! He hates it! haha. So far I dont have to hide food yet, but I will for sure do so when the day comes!

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  18. Oh props to you, lady, for getting your babes to eat healthy, even if they don't know it! ;) I think about how picky I was growing up and want to call my mom and apologize. haha!

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  19. I do the hidden veg thing too - I haven't done smoothies really but I ought to try! Any favorite recipes?? :) Also I really like the holding firm thing. We are only starting to do that now that I know she's testing my patience sometimes. When she was really picky I would just whip up something she *would* eat when she turned down whatever lovely dish I'd spent hours preparing for her - because I was worried she wasn't getting enough nutrients. But she eats a lot more now that we've persisted and she tends to pick when her mood strikes so we push back on it a bit more. (I was SO picky as a kid - until I went to college -my poor Mom!!!)

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  20. haha, I don't really do a "recipe" for the smoothies, but I'll definitely email you some things that I throw together. :) Hint, frozen spinach is my friend!

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  21. thanks! Sometimes it's more of a battle than I want it to be, but like so many of the other ladies in this link up have said, you have to pick you battles. and if that means that one night is a PB&J night then so be it. Luckily for the most part though we don't have those nights. knock on wood.

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  22. You'r'e lucky that she likes it! Zander and Ainsley will eat it raw only if it's in a salad. They love it mixed in smoothies because they only taste the fruit I put in there. I hide spinach in pizza and meatloaf and they never know the difference. :)

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  23. Screw hiding veggies from kids. I still have to hide them from my husband. I put broccoli in a lot of his dishes. And we make smoothies too.

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  24. amen to hidden fruits and veggies. that's how we survive in this house!! My sis got this book for me a few years ago, and I love it!! http://www.amazon.com/dp/006176793X/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=47782567476&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14821266061021769319&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_9sbee36phr_b

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