Sunday, January 25, 2009

Dinnertime

Both children are usually pretty good eaters. They like a lot of things I'm told many other children their age won't eat. But for some reason DS has decided in the last 6 weeks or so that nothing we cook is good enough for him any more. He will request something for dinner and then refuse to eat it when it's served. Unless it's cheerios, goldfish crackers or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, there's no guarantee he'll eat it. Some yogurts are acceptable, and anything mom and dad would classify as junk food, though we rarely, if ever, serve it. Tonight's dinner conversation was typical:

On seeing dinner being prepared by DH:
That's yucky!
How do you know? You've never tasted it!
I just hate it!
But you like everything that's in it!
Well, I'm not going to eat it!
Then you're going to be very hungry because that's all that's on offer tonight!
When it was actually put in front of him:
You know I don't like that!
(We ignore him.)
The sauce is touching the broccoli!

(We ignore him.)

I'm not hungry! I'm full!

But I bet you have room for chocolate ice cream don't you?!
Yes!
Well, the ice cream is only for people who've eaten at least half their dinner!
The faces he pulled were quite entertaining, but he wouldn't let me take a photo of him:


Nor, apparently, was it acceptable to take pictures of his 'disgusting' dinner:

(The empty cup was going to have milk or water poured into it after he'd eaten some of his dinner. We've learned not to fill it at the beginning of the meal as otherwise he just fills up on liquid!)

My dinner, on the other hand, was very nice:

dinnerispoured

Just kidding! The teatowel and cocktail napkins were joke gifts from DH this holiday season! I had the same pasta with homemade tomato sauce with olives, pork, and broccoli that the kids had and I'm looking forward to the leftovers for lunch at work tomorrow (even without an accompanying glass of red wine!)

DS never did eat any of his dinner, but that's OK - guess what he's having for dinner tomorrow?! :-)

Follow-up: He did indeed get offered the same meal a second time - and guess what? This time it was deemed yummy and he ate it all up!

21 comments:

Isabelle said...

Very funny post! And the teatowel and napkins are hilarious :)

I've been following your blog for awhile but never commented before!
I'm French but my husband is American and we are living near Paris.

Have a great day!

Stinking Billy said...

AA, chuckles; I like it. x

Expat mum said...

Ha ha. These poor kids who are blogged about and photographed every five seconds. We have this battle in our house and it drives me nuts. One semi-solution is to bring him in on the menu selection, perhaps even having him help cook a meal.
I once handed mine one of the Jamie Oliver recipe books and they picked quite a lot out to try - and ate them!!

Daffodilly said...

Love it!

What is it they say "Patience is a virtue!"

Jane said...

Ah, cracked me up. Soooo familiar! Love your liquid diet though.

Almost American said...

Expat mum - you'll note that I WAS careful not to post identifying pictures. DS does like being involved in the cooking and is even taking a cooking class at school. He made some yummy things in the last class. At least I assume they were yummy as we didn't get to taste most of them . . . I finally got smart and took the food away from him when I picked him up at school, so it didn't get eaten in the car or eaten in hiding once we got home.

Linda said...

I have a grandson who would eat nothing but chicken nuggets for, it seemed like, years. He's much better now, thank goodness, but still can be picky.

Anonymous said...

You have my sympathies...The Youngest has been vegetarian for some years now, but seems to be adding constantly to her list of vegetables she doesn't like...so far asparagus, aubergine (ok, eggplant), mushroom and zucchini have been cast aside. Try cooking for a vegetarian who doesn't like mushrooms and aubergine!

Almost American said...

No, no, Britoutofwater - YOU have MY sympathies - at least my two will eat almost anything eventually. OK, not mushrooms - they're both very consistent about that - but pretty much anything else will eventually get eaten if they're hungry enough.

I guess The Youngest eats a lot of beans?

I have two nephews who are vegetarian (because their parents are) and they are hulking lads - doesn't seem to have done them any harm.

Anonymous said...

We ALL eat a lot of beans, as a result. Fortunately there's good ventilation in the apartment...

Unknown said...

This is a very Western viewpoint. I have been struggling with the same thing in my home, only to get no support at all from my Middle Eastern family. They tell me that the "normal" thing to do is that if someone "doesn't like" something that's served, you should get up and make them something entirely different, so that they don't have to, and aren't expected "to eat what the rest of the family is eating."

Expat 21
"Expat Abroad"
expat21.wordpress.com

Almost American said...

Thanks for that perspective Expat 21! I can imagine that must be very frustrating for you!

I'm quite prepared to offer an alternative if it's something I know the kids have tried many times and truly don't care for, but they know they need to try new things - and often they end up liking them.

Jo Beaufoix said...

Ahhh this is so like my two. And Miss M (4) fills up on liquid before eating too. We might have to try the not filling her glass thing. So simple. Derrrr. :D

Anonymous said...

Sounds like my house. Love the photos.

Anonymous said...

I feel like I've just lived through an extra meal at our house.. Except One throws food he doesn't like either on the floor or at us with uncanny aim.
I found myself, somewhat to my horror, pulling up pictures of starving children in Africa and showing them to Four and saying "NOW EAT YOUR FOOD AND BE GRATEFUL!"
Why was I not surprised when she suggested, just like I did (and you probably did to your mother) that we pack up her 'yucky supper' and send it to them and she'd have a peanut butter sandwich.
Aghhhh!

Mutter said...

Thanks for visiting my blog AA. I have just been chuckling over your son's resistance to good food. I have a very picky eldest son. For years we have battled over broccoli. The other day he actually listed broccoli as one of his favourite foods. I almost fell off my chair. He now eats anything and everything and simply masses of it. I think he's hit a sudden growth spurt and is so hungry he no longer has time to complain!

Coding Mamma (Tasha) said...

We used to give R her uneaten dinner as breafast the next day. She almost always gobbled it all up! At the moment, we're fortunate that she is mostly eating her dinner, though not often finishing it. I'm sure she will go through plenty more refusing-to-eat phases throughout her childhood.

Nicky said...

My one fills up on liquid too! I am sure I tried to as a child as well. I just wish I could convince her to eat more veg than just brocolli and carrots!

Anonymous said...

Oh, that made me chuckle. I need those napkins!! LOL

My youngest is like that -- won't eat a thing!

Anonymous said...

That was a most amusing post about a pretty common problem with children. I can remember being on both sides - as a child being given an uneaten meal next time, and as a mum, persuading mine to eat up.

Anonymous said...

Hee-hee! I know some kids just like him. My niece and nephew.

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