Ahhhh, posting to my blog…. I’m not sure what has held me back more - the idea that no one will read it, or the idea that someone will read it. Anyway, here goes…
When it comes to feeding my family, I have this image of perfection that always dances just a bit out of reach. As my children get older, I’m finding it more and more difficult to stay true to my ideals AND come up with meals that everyone will like, or even anyone will like. My daughter who is nine is willing to try almost anything, but is fickle and can go from loving to hating something in the course of just one meal. My son, seven, is “vegetarian to broccoli.” (His own phrasing which, I guess, combines the ideas of being allergic to something and avoiding certain foods on principle.) He would eat a bar of soap if it had chocolate sauce on it. My almost-five-year-old daughter likes toast. Full stop. Right now, the easiest to please is my eight-month-old daughter. She will consume absolutely anything she can get her hands on. It doesn’t even have to be food.
With all these different little palates at the table, I find myself going for the lowest common denominator and serving the same things over and over. Sure, it’s homemade - but I’ve caved and allowed bottled ketchup on our table. I’m not happy about it, but at least they eat a bit more of the real food underneath the Heinz. I’ve also been cutting the wholemeal flour with unbleached white and doing some baking with un-soaked grains. Say it isn’t so!
I didn’t have these issues when they ate all their meals at home, but once they ventured out to neighbors’ houses as well as experienced the wonders of lunch at school - everything went downhill fast. I’m holding tight to my belief that by feeding them wholesome foods in the early years, their palates were set properly, and that they’ll find their way back to what’s real. I hope I’m right.
Jan 29th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I really know how you feel! In fact, I have solid shampoo in the form of a brown soap-bar and my 21 month old actually tried to eat it because it looks like chocolate. Tonight I made three separate meals for a table of four people - and even with all that effort my kids barely touched theirs. I go through phases of “They are just going to have to eat what we eat” and then I change my mind because they end up eating so little and it’s concerning as The Nourisher to deal with that isn’t it?! If it’s any consolation I am told by parents of teenagers that “He/she never used to eat anything now I can’t fill him/her up and my fridge is always empty!” - I look forward to that!
I think you’re doing a great job!
Jan 31st, 2008 at 7:09 am
I’m right there with you! I, too, have perfectionist ideals that I would love to meet at all times. But hey, we live in the world too and my 8 and 10 year old children are not my robots (unfortunately?). We also are using Heinz ketchup at the moment. I haven’t even tried to make my own in this area, yet, but I have a feeling my kids wouldn’t like it since they wouldn’t eat the most natural, organic stuff from the co-op. I figure it’s one little bit of ketchup helping them to get down a bigger serving of something nutritious (grassfed beef burgers, salmon, whatever), so I’m okay with it for now.
I do think the best thing is exposing them to all these good foods, letting them see you eat them, and letting them develop their taste buds over time as children tend to do.
And hey, as long as we’re confessing our sins, I don’t always soak my grains either. Sometimes you just gotta eat! (Heaven forbid!) We can do our best, and take baby steps as we learn more.
Good luck!
Lisa
Mar 1st, 2008 at 10:41 am
you are right, if you “set their palates properly” in these years you are only establishing successful eating habits throughout their lives. i am speaking from the “grown- up child” stand point. Where my mom was a health food nut growing up, i loved it, i hated and then i loved it. Exactly in that order. i remember having to hand over entire bags of halloween candy to her every year, because we weren’t allowed to have candy. i also remember her waking up at 5am to make homemade breakfast bars. Looking back, i loved all of it. Their was certainly my time of rebellion, where i’d buy a ding-dong with my babysitting money, sit crouched behind the apple tree in the back yard and scarf it down in secret with a knot of guilt in my stomach. The guilt because mom had already established the good and bad and to know the difference. Now i am grown myself, and heading into Natural Medicine as my next career step. So i just wanted to let you know, that everything you’re doing is exactly right, you do what you can and know that they will never forget this and the utmost importance of their diets.
Mar 5th, 2008 at 4:14 am
Oh my gosh, sometimes I am such a dork when it comes to technology. I just figured out how to add my own comments to posts :-0 I’d been trying to do it through WordPress and was too embarassed to admit I couldn’t figure it out.
Trying to do the right thing can be a lonely business sometimes - thank you Karina, Lisa and Christina for your kind words. It’s nice to know that I’m in good company. Your comments gave me good perspective, and made me smile.
Yes, while my kids have to offer up their Halloween booty to the Candy Sprite (who leaves them trinkets in its place), I do get up and bake them (wholesome) treats for breakfast, and I always try to make sure they don’t feel deprived. Still, things happen to make me question myself - I recently caught my nine year old daughter pulling her first big scam: She gave her tooth fairy money to a neighbor kid and sent him to the corner dairy to buy her a whole bag of lollies. Then he came back and hid them in the yard for her to retrieve later. But, since her sister does not know the meaning of the word “secret” - and none of my kids are good liars - the plan did not come to fruition. She lost her money and the lollies. I tried not to be too hard on her (she may have an opposing opinion on that), and I need to try not to be too hard on myself - this should take its place as an amusing anectdote, not an indictment of my dietary belief system. Candy happens.
Mar 5th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Ha Ha Christine. That’s a great story. I don’t think it’s the food they want, more the experience they feel deprived of. Not much we can do about that. Since we know what we know, sugar is poison and will harm the body, how can we say yes? I ask my kids this when they tell me they wish they could have it. I also have a deal with them, when they’re offered sugar or want to have some, come tell me and I’ll make them home made ice cream or the like. For the most part, they do that. Sometimes it’s sad for them and difficult socially at school but they are smart and they fully understand the way I explain it to them. They also understand that other kids and their parents don’t know what we know and that’s alright.
It helps to make it all a fun game. I tell them I’m a Super hero (The Nourisher), here to save the world. My arch enemy is the Junk food giant, who wants to take over the world. They also know that they are Super Heros and are discovering their gifts (super powers) everyday. My youngest is The Cuddler, he can turn the bad guys into good guys by giving them cuddles, my eldest is The Arguer at the moment, he’s 11 and learning the art of debate. We say he’ll argue with the bad guys until they believe him that being good is better. Then he brings them home to The Nourisher who shows them they can love their bodies with good food. Then The Cuddler shows them they can love others. All the while the middle child dances for us and gives us all the gift of enjoying her beauty and art. Dad is The Cyborg because he’s attached at the wrists to a computer. We tell them everyone is a Super Hero, here to save the world. They just need to find their gift and give it. Lots of fun and so true.
Mar 5th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
We should ask all the Nourished Community to tell us their Super hero name and to share their super powers.
Mar 11th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
My kids have super hero names - their own names with a twist - but with your typical kind of super powers (e.g., EllaVater - she can whoosh to the top of a building in no time flat) I love the idea of nutrition-related super powers. It’s something they can really relate to. We’ve been having lots of fun tossing around our ideas - watch this space for the results!