Food Fight

I wish this post was discussing the thrills of a gooey, sticky mess that my kids created by bombarding each other with their macaroni and cheese or pizza. I would be disgruntled, but that would be more fun than the daily fight that I have in my house about food. When will it end?

As babies, we fight with our kids over the frequency of meals. I remember always trying to get them to wait just a little longer to nurse to stretch the feedings. As toddlers, food seems to be a natural fit; kids eat whatever they can get their hands on. As 3s and 4s, my kids began to get pickier. I am sure some of that is partially my fault because I fell into the predictable pattern of chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and hot dog lunches.

My kids all have different eating patterns and preferences. Andrew is a decent eater; he takes after his dad with being a carnivore and loving meat of any kind. I can't always convince him to try new dishes, but he can still clean his plate. Evan is the best eater of the bunch. I owe much of that credit to his awesome babysitter Gina. She had him take a "thank you" bite of everything she made; therefore, he tried more and liked more.

Then, there is Brendan. Brendan is my picky eater. When he gets his mind set that he is not going to like something, there is no stopping him. Even food that he usually likes is sometimes taboo in is mind if the mood strikes him. For example, yesterday Brendan only ate one meal! He had a good breakfast, then we went to the movies for the cheap $2.50 movie to see Nim's Island. (Cute movie- by the way) After that, we went to the bookstore and then off to Pizza Hut for the kids to redeem personal pan pizzas earned free from the library. Brendan was convinced after two bites that this "Pizza Hut did not make pizza as good as in DeForest." He wanted to try my buffet pizza; again, he didn't like it. The only thing he would try is their Cinnamon Breadsticks. Hmmm. . .. Again, at dinner I made Turkey Kielbasa, corn, grapes, noodles, and biscuits. However, I held his favorite part, the noodles, hostage until he ate something else. This resulted in tears, yelling, and Brendan crying in his room for the rest of dinner. He never touched his dinner! (He was hungry this morning.)

Why must our children fight us on food? I try to explain that "mommy only wants you to be healthy," but that is sometimes not enough. I will keep up the fight, however, as long as I am able. Hopefully, another time I will have a fun food fight to report.