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By Meredith Ethington

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Chandler

I Discovered the Key to Getting My Kid to Eat

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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.

©fakingpictureperfectmonth12 064

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.

©fakingpictureperfectP1040736

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.

 


23 Comments

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Comments

  1. bensbitterblog says

    October 2, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    Picky eater and he listens to Ipod? You sure he isn’t a teenager?

    Reply
    • fakingpictureperfect says

      October 2, 2013 at 2:54 pm

      Wait. I thought when they became teenagers they start eating a ton? Isn’t that what teenage boys do???

      Reply
      • bensbitterblog says

        October 2, 2013 at 3:50 pm

        Yeah, but they only eat a ton of certain types of foods. They are pretty picky about what types of junk they eat.

        Reply
  2. scottishmomus says

    October 2, 2013 at 2:57 pm

    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

    Reply
    • fakingpictureperfect says

      October 2, 2013 at 2:59 pm

      Thank you! 🙂

      Reply
      • scottishmomus says

        October 2, 2013 at 3:08 pm

        🙂 x

        Reply
      • scottishmomus says

        October 2, 2013 at 3:08 pm

        *dead chuffed*
        Thanks. 🙂 x

        Reply
  3. monk-monk says

    October 2, 2013 at 3:03 pm

    This is amazing. My kiddo regularly eats blueberries and soy sausages for dinner with peanut butter crackers and maybe a string cheese

    Reply
    • fakingpictureperfect says

      October 2, 2013 at 3:36 pm

      Glad we aren’t the only ones with a ridiculously weird meal going on.

      Reply
  4. zeudytigre says

    October 2, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    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…

    Reply
  5. momasteblog says

    October 2, 2013 at 5:52 pm

    Handed to him in a dixie cup with a spork by a stranger. . . LOVE!! This really made me smile! xo.

    Reply
    • fakingpictureperfect says

      October 2, 2013 at 9:05 pm

      It makes ME crazy. 😉

      Reply
  6. momsasaurus says

    October 2, 2013 at 7:16 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • fakingpictureperfect says

      October 2, 2013 at 9:06 pm

      I’m sorry you can relate so well!!

      Reply
  7. writermomangela says

    October 2, 2013 at 8:32 pm

    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.

    Reply
  8. Kylie says

    October 3, 2013 at 11:00 am

    Hurray for no more Alimentum!!!!!

    Reply
    • fakingpictureperfect says

      October 3, 2013 at 11:22 am

      Yes!! 🙂

      Reply
  9. TraceyLynnTobin says

    October 3, 2013 at 12:49 pm

    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. @_@

    Reply
  10. ashlee418 says

    October 3, 2013 at 10:12 pm

    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! : )

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Last Days Before Two | Perfection Pending says:
    November 21, 2013 at 1:44 pm

    […] little kid…because he’s a little kid now, not a baby. He tests my patience everyday when I try to feed him. Or when he insists on pushing his own shopping cart at the store and if I even attempt to touch it […]

    Reply
  2. Asian Chicken Salad says:
    July 11, 2014 at 4:00 pm

    […] know, he doesn’t each much of anything that is, of course, unless it’s served with a spork at Costco. […]

    Reply
  3. 5 Tricks to Feeding Picky Toddlers - Perfection Pending says:
    November 21, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    […] Switch up the serving dish. I’ve blogged about how if you serve my kid anything with a dixie cup and a spork, he’ll eat it. Well, that’s still true. Sometimes I just have to make it fun. […]

    Reply
  4. Manic Mondays: Fourth Meal - Perfection Pending says:
    April 8, 2017 at 3:45 pm

    […] cleaning my kitchen after dinner. To see the clean counters, and to know that I’m done with feeding my kids for the day is so wonderful. Yet, it never fails that as soon as we bring up the subject of […]

    Reply

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Welcome! I’m Meredith.

Mom. Writer. Diet Coke connoisseur. Born and raised Texan. Lover of real talk and laughter with a hint of sarcasm mixed in.

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