"Mum, I HATE salad, I don 't want to eat salad!!" He says as he slams his hands down on the dining table. The youngest is hardly getting any attention because the oldest is throwing an epic tantrum over something that he hasn 't even tried yet. It 's really not uncommon in our house.
I try to keep my calm. "Don 't focus on the things you don 't want to eat, focus on the things you do want to eat. Maybe start with some chicken." I say as I turn his plate so that the chicken is in his face and not the dreaded salad. He hates salad.
My partner is looking at me like sympathetically. I tried to tell him when we met that my kid takes salad hatred to the extreme, I am not sure he believed me. Now he does, but he insists we need to "break the habit". …show more content…
More times than once, I scream. More times than once, he goes to his room screaming. More times than once he falls asleep without dinner.
"Iron Man eats his salad."
"First one to finish their salad is the rockin egg!"
"Salad makes you grow muscles"
"Mummy loves her salad"
"Eat all your salad and you can have dessert"
"Eat all of your salad or go to bed without dinner"
"Don 't focus on the things you don 't want to eat, focus on the things you do want to eat"
"You don 't have to eat the salad, yet."
"We will talk about the salad once you finish everything else on your plate"
"Show me how much salad you can eat? You are such a good boy."
"I am so proud of you."
"Do you want to help me cook?"
"Do NOT spit your food out at the table."
The list felt endless. Always trying to convince him to eat his salad. Many times I wanted to give up. Many times it all just seemed way too hard. But then I would picture him, as a grown man living in an apartment on his own and think, he needs someone to teach him about food... and who better than me? And so we would go to bed, and try again tomorrow.
And then tomorrow …show more content…
which he washes down with some water, "because," he informs me, "it 's a little bit spicy".
And in that moment, I don 't think I have ever been more proud of him. 1 year it 's taken us, almost to the day I expect... but seeing him chow down on some healthy food and follow it up with a dessert of cashews has got to be one of my most proud mother moments ever.
I didn 't think he 'd ever get there. I thought, I am going to give him food aversions for good. He is going to hate me. Anything I do here gets undone at his dad 's house. I am fighting a battle I can 't win... but honestly every moment was worth it. In a previous life (before I met my new partner), I would have accepted the behaviour of salad hatred... but I put down our success to my partner 's diligence in keeping me on track, reminding me what was important and okay, on my occasions; bearing the load when I was going to explode with frustration.
They need to be told 7 times (or 700) before they believe it 's true, but salad at every meal will help them become accustomed to a healthy
I try to keep my calm. "Don 't focus on the things you don 't want to eat, focus on the things you do want to eat. Maybe start with some chicken." I say as I turn his plate so that the chicken is in his face and not the dreaded salad. He hates salad.
My partner is looking at me like sympathetically. I tried to tell him when we met that my kid takes salad hatred to the extreme, I am not sure he believed me. Now he does, but he insists we need to "break the habit". …show more content…
More times than once, I scream. More times than once, he goes to his room screaming. More times than once he falls asleep without dinner.
"Iron Man eats his salad."
"First one to finish their salad is the rockin egg!"
"Salad makes you grow muscles"
"Mummy loves her salad"
"Eat all your salad and you can have dessert"
"Eat all of your salad or go to bed without dinner"
"Don 't focus on the things you don 't want to eat, focus on the things you do want to eat"
"You don 't have to eat the salad, yet."
"We will talk about the salad once you finish everything else on your plate"
"Show me how much salad you can eat? You are such a good boy."
"I am so proud of you."
"Do you want to help me cook?"
"Do NOT spit your food out at the table."
The list felt endless. Always trying to convince him to eat his salad. Many times I wanted to give up. Many times it all just seemed way too hard. But then I would picture him, as a grown man living in an apartment on his own and think, he needs someone to teach him about food... and who better than me? And so we would go to bed, and try again tomorrow.
And then tomorrow …show more content…
which he washes down with some water, "because," he informs me, "it 's a little bit spicy".
And in that moment, I don 't think I have ever been more proud of him. 1 year it 's taken us, almost to the day I expect... but seeing him chow down on some healthy food and follow it up with a dessert of cashews has got to be one of my most proud mother moments ever.
I didn 't think he 'd ever get there. I thought, I am going to give him food aversions for good. He is going to hate me. Anything I do here gets undone at his dad 's house. I am fighting a battle I can 't win... but honestly every moment was worth it. In a previous life (before I met my new partner), I would have accepted the behaviour of salad hatred... but I put down our success to my partner 's diligence in keeping me on track, reminding me what was important and okay, on my occasions; bearing the load when I was going to explode with frustration.
They need to be told 7 times (or 700) before they believe it 's true, but salad at every meal will help them become accustomed to a healthy