Moments with Mom

I have this philosophy about feeding children.

1. Feed them when they are hungry.
2. They won't starve themselves, so don't force them to eat.
3. They don't like the same thing every day. Try it again next week.

My mom had a similar philosophy. She cooked one meal for everyone. You either ate it, or you went to bed hungry. As we got older, she added "fix it yourself". But if you fixed it, you'd better clean it up. So, when I had children, I didn't bother myself with trying to make everything they liked for every meal we ate. They're kids. They don't know any better. So, the rule at my house is "If you don't like dinner, you can have a piece of bread". Sometimes they try dinner and sometimes they eat bread. Doesn't bother me really. Refer to rule #2. They'll eat when they get hungry enough. However, I'm not the meanest mom on the block. When I'm planning meals, I do try to take into consideration what they do really like and I try to accommodate those "likes" as much as possible. But you can only have Mac n' chees and rice at so many meals.

I've been passing this philosophy on to my friends that complain about their picky-eaters. Sometimes their reaction is "stunned". Sometimes you almost see the light go off in their heads. (I love those Ah-Ha moments). So my friend, Melinda sent me an e-mail tonight. Her son, Brendan, stated that he didn't like dinner. So Melinda decided to try the new theory on him. She told him that he could eat the casserole or he could have one piece of bread. Brendan chose the bread, and Melinda was shocked. However, at 8:30 p.m., he was sitting at the table eating the casserole in his PJs. He said he was "so hungry"! Poor baby. Way to go, Melinda! Keep up the good work.

Maybe my mom's craziness can be passed on! Thanks, mom.