Picky eater mamas…the struggle is REAL.
I’m sure there’s plenty of mamas out there who can pull off the “my kids eat what we eat” thing and won’t let their kids leave the table without tasting things or eating one lima bean or stuff like that.
I tried. All of it. I read the articles, I tried all the things, I made the Deceptively Delicious recipes, I’ve been mean mom, I’ve yelled, I’ve given in…all the things.
Here is what has helped me so far…
1. Meal planning…I plan dinners for every night of the week, including at least 1 or 2 that EVERYONE will eat. There aren’t many…most of them involve pasta. I plan kid meals based on what we are having, so that they eat part of or some variation of what we are having. Planning helps…it has solved the “short order cook” issue that results from my uttering the words, “What do you want for dinner?”
2. Prep…I make one thing the kids like in a large batch at the beginning of the week to fall back on. Homemade mac n cheese is always a hit, and I have that to heat up if all else fails.
3. I let go of fighting the school lunch battle. My kid gets Spaghettios, Go-Gurt, and a granola bar. Every day. It drove me absolutely crazy when the healthy stuff either got thrown out or brought back home…along with a hangry kid who barely ate all day. I am choosing to let go of things I cannot control.
4. I try to get in the nutrients at home, on my watch, where I can. Special kid smoothies for breakfast, secret greens powder in marinara sauce…easy, quick adds to things he likes. And I am lenient on the food accessories…unlimited ketchup, salt, cheese, butter…if it means that he will try a food he otherwise wouldn’t.
5. I LET GO of the fighting. Honestly, some may disagree with me here. If you know me at all, you know I am a healthy eater myself and I value nutrition, BUT I also value peaceful and happy family meals at the dinner table. I would rather sacrifice that bite of broccoli for a few more giggles and stories and less yelling and tears.
It is slowly getting better…sloooowwwwly. And I don’t pretend to be doing it all right…I’m just an imperfect mama doing the best she can. But I share, in case someone else out there is struggling with this too. And I’ll take all the tips I can get…but I’ve also learned that us mamas know our own kids best, so I take them with a grain of salt…probably too much salt…bc then my kid might eat it.
