Sacrifice being the theme of our next 40 days, this post goes right along with it. With our next new practice, our boys are unknowingly sacrificing their fledgling tastebuds for the sake of their overworked mama. In addition to our clothes-at-breakfast and bib-wearing policies, we've also added another--the eat-what-you're-served-and-like-it rule. ;) You can see where this one's going...
My boys were (and still are) quite un-adventurous when it comes to trying new foods and eating like "big boys". We've attempted having them eat like us, but have always caved, fixing them their own meals and causing their mama more work. In all of this their palate has only become more "refined". At one point, we were having to buy a specific type of mac 'n cheese because all others would be rejected. Ugh!!
So I stopped. Cold turkey. One night the boys were bedazzled with their typical dino-shaped nuggets of glory, and the next they were met with beef stroganoff and broccoli. Whoa. This totally rocked their little worlds. Thankfully, I will say they are good fruit and veggie eaters, so the broccoli went down pretty easily, while the beef stroganoff remained untouched. The new rule: "All boys must make a good effort* on all parts of their plate before a) receiving any more of one part and/or b) dessert. *"Good effort" is up to Mommy and Daddy's subjective decision. ;) If boys choose not to eat their meals, they may ask to be excused politely and may wait until the next meal to eat.
You can imagine the whines heard around our table--"Mommy, I don't like that sauce" or "Mommy, that chicken is so yucky". As soon as they start, though, I say my rehearsed line, "My ears hurt from all of this whining. You are welcome to eat the things you like and stay here or you may continue your whining in your room." At extreme stand-offs, I will merely place a time-limit on the clock and ask for a boy to start his meal before the elapsed time or he will be automatically excused from the table. With those practices in place, we have pressed onward and dinners have been rather pleasant. The only hang-up: my kids are going hungry and often, which is hard for a parent to see (especially the Daddy parent :).
Yet the biggest "Aha" moment came when I watch this video about San Damiano Foundation's work with starving children. The movie led me to tears as I sat and watched young children unable to sit due to extreme starvation. Later when flushing down the latest shunned dinner creation, I thought of the starving children again and how they would be sprinting, possibly killing, to have a bite of my children's wasted food. The only difference between those children and my own is that my own had never known starvation. If they knew the WANT of hunger, they would scarf down anything on their plates. Going "hungry" for one evening was not going to hurt them.
A few good things about this new policy is 1) the boys love breakfast and will eat to their heart's content every morning, therefore I know they are getting plenty of vitamins and minerals; 2) they enjoy having many of their old dinner favorites for lunchtime--mac 'n cheese, nuggets, PB and J make regular appearances around noontime much to their delight; and 3) we are starting to see some real progress even in just a few weeks. Just last night I made my famous "Cheesy Soup" with potatoes, onions, and celery. The boys have never touched this mama wonder, that is until last night. I was in disbelief as I helped our M spoon bite after bite into his mouth. Pardon me, is this my child??? In the past few weeks, we've also come to realize how much our T enjoys meat. Last week GG and I chuckled on the phone while T yelled in the background, "Mommy, I want meat. I want meat!!" Hysterical. The kid loves all things ground beef, steak, and sausage. We would have never really known this if we hadn't challenged him to branch out a little. Watch out arteries! :)
So there you have it, the last of our recent Gasperini-Ville policies to go 'round. No doubt I'll be updating soon with the latest tweak or alteration. No doubt, though, we are better off in our evolution and realizing day-by-day that change can be a good thing. We just have to be willing to work through the adjustment!
God bless,
4 comments:
Awesome! I love it. I love the new policies. You are amazing. Keep up the great work B-Mama. It is inspiring ;-)
We just started this policy too... although not that thought out or well planned. One day I was just tired and said you can eat it or be excused. My kids have gone hungry for the last two nights... but breakfast goes very well the next morning. Maybe I will take some of your more detailed thought out plans and apply them. Thanks for the help! :)
love it love it love it!
you could be the next supernanny!
I love hearing that other moms are doing this too! I've been on the verge sometimes of caving because I just want my daughter to eat something, but it's really helped knowing that she can't starve herself. We've had big issues here, so I love hearing your calm and loving plan.
Just last night, my daughter was throwing a fit because she didn't finish eating before bedtime, and daddy and I struggled with the right way to handle it.
Your patience is quite inspirational! Good Job!
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