New Eating Schedule

During our recent vacation, I noticed that the babe (aka my 2 year old son) is a very very picky eater. Now this is no surprise, I've known this for a while but during our vacation it became a problem. We were at my Aunt's house and he wouldn't eat anything that they served for meals the entire 11 days we were there. So we ended up having to buy him a box of easy mac and that's pretty much all he ate. So I came home and read a fabulous article in Parenting magazine about getting your picky eater to try new things. So it said a few of the normal things that we've tried and failed with (e.g. hiding veggies in a casserole). But it said some things that were worded or read at the right time that made sense that I'm doing now.

The first one was the American Academy of Pediatrics said, "Children will not become ill or suffer permanently if they refuse a meal or two, but parents sometimes act as though youngsters might shrivel up and die." Now i'm smart enough to realize my child isn't going to die if he misses 1 meal but sometimes we act like they will. So we become short order cooks. Thus leading me to changed #1: no more catering to my son's weird eating habits. If we're having lasagna for dinner, that's what he will eat or he won't eat.

The 2nd thing is so silly that I hardly can believe I haven't tried it before. It's simply to make them try one bite. Now this isn't to say that I haven't tried this in the past but he won't do it. If you say try one bite, he says no thanks. End of story. But now I've gotten smarter. Now it is you will eat one bite or .... (fill in the blank e.g. you'll go straight to bed or you can't get down and play).

The final straw to deciding to make these drastic changed in my son's diet was last night. It was my hubby's and my 4th year anniversary of marriage. So we went out and left the babe with one of his friend's families. Well they were having chicken and rice for dinner with honeydew. He of course wouldn't eat any of it. So I guess they kept him at the table until he at least tried a bite of everything they had served him. Finally, he did it! It's terrible that someone else should have to force feed my child and so tonight we did the same. He ate bacon for the first time! Who knew he actually eats meat!

So this week is a rough week for the babe. Not only does he have to eat meat but tomorrow starts the fast-track method for potty training! I'll post about it tomorrow.

On a side note, our playgroup split in half today! Honestly, I'm thrilled! There were some serious personality conflicts that playgroup is now going to be a positive experience again!