Feeding my kids has never been my favorite chore parental responsibility. And, with every child, there has been a challenge of some sort in the eating department.
Cute little Avery used to store food in her cheeks for what seemed like hours. It was probably just minutes. But, with those fat, chubby cheeks she had, I was never sure if she had food in there or not. Then, I would realize I over-stuffed those cheeks, and it would all come spilling out.
True first kid love right there. I was so caught up in the feeding her organic only, and non-sugary foods, that for her first birthday, she didn’t even know what to do with her cupcake. What is this thing? Guess I’ll face plant into it.
With Kyle, well, there was a problem with eating from day one. That evolved into FPIES, and then texture issues. I remember the thrill of the day when we trialed eggs. And he LOVED them. And we had a new food to add to his very restricted diet.
The joy when he was eating those eggs said it all. And, that joy was only a fraction of the joy I was feeling at the time. It was like he was thinking, “Finally! Eggs. Where have you been all my life?” He still loves them to this day. And, while the first two years of his life were like an extreme sporting event in eating, we survived it. And, for the most part, he is totally normal when it comes to eating. Aside from the occasional episode like in the car the other day when he got grossed out by some peach fuzz on his peach, and I had to toss him a sandwich bag that I luckily had handy while driving down the road so he could gag/spit into it. Glamorous. Enjoy every moment, right?
And, then there was Chandler. Sure, we’ve had a struggle with him and food allergy issues that almost got me committed, but he’s outgrown them all. So, life should be easy right? Wrong. This kid is as much of a mystery to me at each and every meal as any of them were. Was? Are?
I never know if he is going to eat the avocado, or detest it. If he will go for whatever I made the family for dinner that night (chicken pot pie? nope. Lasagna? yes.) or if we will feed him one of his weird meals made special order just for him like a breakfast sausage link, 3 grapes, mizithra cheese rolled up in pepperoni, 6 bites of rice before he decides it’s disgusting, and a string cheese. Oh, and don’t forget the side of taco meat.
Seriously, it’s like he thinks he’s at a Golden Corral and the kitchen is his buffet. “I would like a tiny portion of every. single. item. in the pantry, please” is what he must be thinking. “Oh, and let me try the condiments in the fridge door for good measure”. By the end of dinner, we always say to each other, “Was that a meal?” and usually call it good from sheer exhaustion. Getting up from the table 52 times to “try something else” while also trying to feed two other kids is a monumental task we survive every single night.
I try letting him eat with toothpicks. Cutting things up in special shapes. Giving him stuff that I KNOW he will hate but wants because someone else has it. Drowning his waffle covered in syrup with powdered sugar too. Just to get him to eat. But, yesterday, I may have discovered the secret.
Costco.
We walk in right before lunch time, and sure enough, it’s sample time. And, I’ve decided that the kid will eat anything if it’s handed to him in a dixie cup with a spork. By a stranger.
He ate yogurt with chunks of fruit in it.
White bean chicken chili
Brown Rice and Quinoa
Grilled Cheese on 7 Grain Bread
Pizza Pockets
and
Pita Bread with Butter
Today at lunch? we were back to our usual drab meal. No dixie cups. No sporks. No strangers. He wasn’t really in the mood to eat again. But, he had to make sure to lay claim to every single nugget on the plate that I had put in between the two boys. Much to Kyle’s dismay.
Not really eating any of them. You know what this means, don’t you? I will be visiting Costco everyday at 11:30 am. To feed my child lunch.
I know one day, I will look back and smile at this post. But, for now, he’s just my little boy that doesn’t want to eat, unless it’s with a spork in a tiny dixie cup. But, seeing him listening to my iPod (a new obsession of his) gives me a tiny glimpse of that teenager that he will become. I’m sure he will one day eat me out of house and home.
Picky eater and he listens to Ipod? You sure he isn’t a teenager?
Wait. I thought when they became teenagers they start eating a ton? Isn’t that what teenage boys do???
Yeah, but they only eat a ton of certain types of foods. They are pretty picky about what types of junk they eat.
I so enjoyed this. Everyone of my children were ‘normal’ eaters. The usual food fads, yes, ‘liked that cereal yesterday but not today’.
Then came the ‘my son has a cold and will not eat’ syndrome and we offered him everything to tempt his taste buds and force a feeding reaction. Woe is me! He became the fussiest, faddiest eater of all time.
Now over 6′, (18 years old) the tallest of all. A great cook. Still fussy with certain things but more ‘selective’ shall we say? 🙂
It is such a trial. God bless Costco, I say. Take them all down there. A bottle of wine for yourself and you’ll feel like you’ve had a night out!
Gorgeous pics btw. 🙂 x
Thank you! 🙂
🙂 x
*dead chuffed*
Thanks. 🙂 x
This is amazing. My kiddo regularly eats blueberries and soy sausages for dinner with peanut butter crackers and maybe a string cheese
Glad we aren’t the only ones with a ridiculously weird meal going on.
Eat you out of house and home – so long as you keep a ready supply of pot noodles in the store cupboard. My eldest son (15yo) is always hungry – but still hates his veg. We have reached an uneasy truce re: what he wants and what he must eat. I do wonder why our first world problems continue to resonate with feeding kids…
Handed to him in a dixie cup with a spork by a stranger. . . LOVE!! This really made me smile! xo.
It makes ME crazy. 😉
Oh good lord. It’s like you are in my house, at my dinner table. This EXACT SAME SCENARIO. EVERY DAY. *head desk* I feel your pain. I really do. Great post, by the way.
I’m sorry you can relate so well!!
My daughter, the oldest, was easy. She would and does eat absolutely anything. Tries everything no matter what it is. Sushi, she loves it. Brussel sprouts, she doesn’t love them but she still tries them every time she sees them because she wants to like them. What kid wants to like brussel sprouts? My son, if it’s not chicken nuggets or handed to him thru a drive thru window he’s pretty sure he doesn’t like it and he isn’t trying it.
Hurray for no more Alimentum!!!!!
Yes!! 🙂
Oh god, food issues, yes. I think I know about two kids who haven’t had some kind of issue with food. My daughter, in particular, is extremely fussy. The thing is, it’s not that she doesn’t necessarily like different things, it’s just that she refuses to try them. We had at least a three week period not that long ago when she didn’t eat supper at all, any day, even though we refused to give her anything else the rest of the day unless she at least tried it. She would literally go 12 hours or more without eating, just because she refused to try one bite of her supper. @_@
Isn’t it funny the things us moms figure out? I’d be at Costco everyday too! I recently discovered that if I feed my two year old her food as “treats”, like she’s a cat, she’ll eat just about anything. So you know what we’re doing now for every meal…here kitty kitty! : )