I've Heard That Before

Last week was our Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet.  I was in line helping my kids get food when I heard a comment come out of my friend's mouth behind us in line that I've said a million times myself.  "That's all you are going to eat? A roll?  I swear I have the pickiest kids in the world!"  No you don't.  I do.  And for that fact there are probably a dozen other mothers in the room that would argue for that bragging right. (If you can call it that!)  I was pleasantly surprised to look down at my own kids plates and see them full of food.  Well, my pleasure didn't last long because soon they were up running around the room with their friends while there plates looked just like they did when they sat down.  And then I found myself repeating what I say over and over.  "This is dinner; if you choose not to eat you choose to go hungry."

I found soon after I became a parent that there are plenty of people around with different parenting ideas that are always ready to criticize my own parenting techniques.  The first few years it really bothered me but at this point, to be honest, I don't really care.  So feel free to criticize or disagree with my methods but I'll share it with you anyway.  I've never forced my children to eat anything.  There choice is simply this.  What is on the table is what they have to choose from.  If they choose not to eat it, they choose to be hungry.  If they don't eat dinner, there's no dessert, snacks, PB&J, etc.  They can just wait until breakfast.  This is one rule I've really done quite a good job of sticking to and I really thought after twelve years a child would learn to eat something he doesn't like rather than go hungry.  So maybe my tactic has failed miserably because I'm now starting to see a church mission a few years down the road and wondering if my son will literally starve to death if he goes to a country that lives on rice and beans.  On the other hand I've decided it has a lot more to do with the child than anything I have or haven't done as a parent since my five year old loves to try new food and I really haven't done anything differently with her.  So to all my friends out there who think they have the pickiest kids in the world, I'm sorry.  I share your pain, but I'm also ready to take bets on who's the pickiest.

So the last few months I have been forced to put most of my hobbies on hold.  Mostly marathon training and snow skiing that usually occupy all our free time in the winter.  The good news is that it's given me more time to rediscover a hobby that I had really forgotten I enjoy, cooking!  After the first few months of morning sickness where nothing looked appealing, now everything looks good.  (If you don't believe me just ask my doctor how much weight I gained in the last month...)  I've been on the lookout for new recipes and trying out new foods.  My friend told me about a fun cooking blog Jamie Cooks It Up .  Try it out for yourself.  She's got some fabulous recipes.  Some take a lot of time and some are great for a quick meal.  There have been a couple that turned out as flops and I wondered how her pictures turned out so perfect but for the most part our family has really enjoyed them.  I'm trying something new tonight and I can already tell what my picky eaters are going to say when the sit down.  "Yuck, I don't like this!"  My response will be the same as always.  "You can't say you don't like it when you've never even tried it."  Maybe someone will go to bed hungry but after all, I have the pickiest children in the world!