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[Warning: This is going to strike some people as harsh, cruel, and maybe even somewhat abusive. If any of my unschooling buddies still read here, you are not going to like this.]
I hate the idea of forcing a kid to clean his plate.
I hate it when parents spend the entire meal harassing their kid about what he does or doesn't eat.
I hate it when parents say, "If you don't finish that, you'll eat it for breakfast!"
And I don't like the idea of using food as a reward or punishment.
However ....
I knew something was wrong around here when we all stayed at my in-law's house for the weekend a few months ago:
The girls were going to have a sleepover at their Aunt Carol's, so my MIL made some macaroni and cheese and a couple other simple things for the girls' dinner before they went. The girls wouldn't eat it.
Robert, fearing they would get Cranky and Difficult with no dinner, asked Aunt Carol if she could get the girls some dinner.
So Aunt Carol took the girls went through the McDonald's drive-thru. Rachael, age seven, cried when she saw her hamburger had "stuff" on it, and refused to eat it.
And I thought, This is not right.
So I started implementing an idea I think I read in a book, believe it or not, way back when I was pregnant with Rachel. Something like "How to Cope with a Picky Eater."
Here it is:
At mealtime, try to serve at least one food you know your kid likes. Serve them very small servings (about two or three bites) of everything.
They can eat, or not eat, whatever they like. But they can't have seconds of anything until they've finished everything on their plate.
And that's it.
I'm not militant about it. For breakfast, Rebecca still gets her waffles every day, and Rachael gets her oatmeal. But I usually do it at dinnertime, and it has helped. They are trying more foods and having a slightly more balanced diet.
BTW, I don't remember what the book says, but I personally wouldn't do something like that until about age four, which means Benjamin gets a break. Actually, right now he eats almost anything anyway.
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2 comments:
I can't think why anyone would think this is bad thing. We have always had something that my grandmother called "no thank you helpings." This meant that, if you were to say "no thank you" when offered, say, peas, you would get just a teensy portion of peas. But you still had to eat them.
I think our children get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of food on their plates. Why not give them smaller portions? No waste, and easier to eat. Win-win.
I am in much the same situation, and as much as it goes against my unschooly philosphy, I have taken similiar action here as well. The kids' list of foods they would eat was just getting way to small.
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