Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Little Miss Pickyeater: The Good, the Bad, and the Chili

In previous posts, I've documented my frustration with my daughter's finicky nature at the dinner time. Things have improved, but occassionally Little Miss Pickyeater appears.
When this happens we have the following rules in place to handle her:
  1. If we serve something new, she has to try it. In the past week, she's tried a butternut squash gratin and fried polenta. She didn't like either, and even though I don't feel like she tasted these things with a open taste buds, I'm fine with this. At least she's trying something new. I'm not going to dictate taste to her; instead, we'll reserve dictatorship for mandating proper nutrition.


  2. When we have meal we know she likes, she has to finish everything on her plate, or she doesn't get anything to eat until the next meal. No snack or dessert for Little Miss Pickyeater.
We consistently apply these rules without getting angry or upset with her. There's no point in letting our emotions ruin dinner. Unfortunately, this doesn't always keep her from heading into an emotional tailspin.

Last week we served chili, and even though Little Miss Pickyeater likes chili, she refused to finish her bowl. In the end, she was denied dessert, which prompted tears and a retreat to her bedroom.

Later that evening, I found this on her little writing desk.

It's a picture of a steaming bowl of chili, and I'll translate the writing for you: I do not like chili. It tastes gross. It is so disgusting. Yuck!

I'm proud of her. She dealt with her frustration and anger by putting pen to paper, which is a healthy way to cope.

She might even follow in my footsteps and become a food blogger.


eat your veggies,

muddy



6 comments:

muddywaters said...

I can't wait to see what she writes about me when she's a teenager. Hopefully it won't get into "Daddy Dearest" territory.

Ruth said...

Let me see if I remember, "Little Miss Pickyeater's" father did not like,pancakes, eggs or chili when he was a child. Hmmn,wonder if he remembers that?

WilleWorks.com said...

Poor baby girl!

I didn't have rules about food when my boys were little and we often played backwards day when we would eat dessert before dinner. Fun times at our house.....and they ate all their dinner to boot.

High Plains Drifters said...

She doesn't like chili ... even washed down with chocolate milk?!

SimplyStated said...

I never had rules about food at my house. Forcing food on someone usually leads to much more serious problems later and it does not make home meals enjoyable. My kids were a big part of meal planning, shopping and preparation...that seems to be missing from your family. The kids loved helping create menus, finding recipes and learning to cook. We only did dessert twice a month unless it was holidays which made it more special.If my hubby cooked dinner, we were liable to have breakfast foods. My youngest son ate baloney sandwiches and fruit yogurt for dinner for months once because that's what he wanted. No big deal. We had lots of fun and still do at the holidays.Ease up on the food rules and try getting your daughter more involved in meal planning and prep. Meal time should be about laughing, talking, eating, togetherness...not daily drama.

High Plains Drifters said...

Been doing so much mandatory research on parenting lately, but haven't found much definitive on what is surely a common issue, food likes and dislikes. I've seen the no-rules approach work, but have also seen kids who grow up on gummy bears and lucky charms or who pile on the food at all-you-can-eat buffets only to throw away 90% of it. i wonder if Po Bronson covered it in his last work?