I feel pretty good sometimes with the shizz I've figured out for my own bod and can even claim a few bragging rights to some changes in Master Pete. But when it comes to my offspring, I'm clueless. Hopeless sometimes. Frustrated almost always.
Ok, I can fess up to helping them make a fairly smooth transition from cow to almond milk (we called it snowflake water one Christmas - against my anti-cringeworthy law, but egads, it worked). And now even when Stella goes to friends' houses, she says a quiet no thanks to dairy in her cereal and eats it dry. Gets me all verklempt.
The other victory I wave the flag for is the switch from sugared cereals (even though is was only the classic 1g o' sugar Cheerios) to sugar-free cereal and oatmeal only in the mornings. This one took a long build up and multi-coloured warning system, but here they are now, every morning pouring quinoa puffs into a bowl and dropping handfuls of homemade granola into it. I seriously thought this was going to be a dealbreaker and I'd see them with stick and bandana hitching to nana's house for some frosted flakes.
And admittedly one more. My staunchly anti-whole grain bread seven-year old now loves the stuff. No more begging for baguettes. No more lunches arriving back home with untouched sandwich. Tres amazing.
But this is where the transition ends for my girls. I get the daily pre-dinner declaration of "eating vegetables makes you healthy and strong, right, mommy?" paired later with the equally fervent declaration of "I'm not a vegetarian so I don't eat vegetables!"
As lovely as the little ladies are at breaky, at dinner time, the performance is far from stellar.
"We like lots of stuff! Pizza, pasta and sushi." Well, let's call the diversity council and get you a medal. And when you're trying to go cheese, gluten and generally white stuff free, pizza, pasta and sushi become sad imitations of themselves.
I've tried to get help. I now have practically every kids cookbook under the sun - they get excited about cooking with me and following a recipe, but they want to pick all the sweet stuff in the book to try. And trying to find a vegan or even non-cheese based vegetarian cookbook for kids is impossible.
I've gone through stages of saying, what the hell, I'll just let them choose whatever recipe they want. So we've made pesto pasta (not a hit), eggs baked in ham cups (not a hit) and even something called pretend soup, with yogurt and fruit (a huge hit), but I want them to get excited about dairy-free stuff. I've also gone the Jessica Seinfeld route of hiding purees in brownies and such, but it's a lot of bloody work and doesn't really get me to a place of acceptance with these miniature people.
And if I see or hear about another kid happily eating salad for dinner every night, I may kick a puppy. I get a bite of broccoli on a good night.
So this is where I need help. Have you figured this out? Know people how have? I'll try anything once and thank you a million times.
Having no kiddiewinks of my own, I can unfortunately offer no words of advice on the topic. I can however offer my admiration for trying to do this everyday. Time and time again, whenever I've bowed down to a less than stellar food choice (which is quite frequently these days when I have to rely on convenience and what I can literally stomatch, lest I shrink away to nothing), I think about how someone even tries to stick to a regime when they have kids. And then I think of you. I'm sure no matter what, you're doing the best you can. My kids would either be tied down and force fed salad or else swinging from the chandeliers hopped up on cookies and ice cream -- either way grounds for social services.
ReplyDeleteYour perseverance in itself is amazing! We have a all veggie night dinner once a week. It is all raw and I let the kids choose the veggies and the dips (not sure how many dairy free dip recipes there are). The boys like being in charge of choosing and we generally have a huge plate in the middle of the table and eat like bunnies. You need a good variety though, that is the key (especially since I have a 'no dip' kid). I make sure they have a good dose of yogurt for snack that night before bed so that they get that needed protein in there (not sure if you guys are doing any yogurts?). Can't say it is perfect but they do certainly love the veg nights (or I should say I don't get too many complaints!:) You are amazing and I am loving reading and following you along!
ReplyDeleteokay, it is now my turn to remind you that I knew you as a babe and small child as well as I do now ... and there were times when the amount of food on your plate was so minimal it was almost non-existent. But I did try to make the rule stick that every one eats the same food for dinner, and how much is up to each one of us. Whatever you put on your plate you had to eat, but, I was never that much of a stickler ... I hate food issues at the dinner table ...
ReplyDeleteWe have some eating issues with Hannah. Also some small physiological issues that we are trying to manage thru diet. We have taken her off wheat and dairy about 80%. She is not celiac so 80% is good. Then I don't stress out when we are eating out. I basically don't have anything in the house she can't eat. She LOVES pasta, so we have rice pasta which I don't like, but she does. We mix up the carbs with mainly brown rice, and some rice pasta, quinoa and couscous. She likes quite a few veggies which helps and she likes fruit. She loves baking so we bake with gluten free wheat. And eat whatever she makes. I try to use sugar substitutes like honey and maple syrup and rock or unrefined sugar. Try to cut down on the whole sugar thing and basically no processed food. She loves sushi and I think it is a good snack for her so we do that a couple of times a week. We still have icing sugar that she used to bake with occasionally, but I try not to get too worked up about it. I think if she learns good habits and can retain these when she is older and on her own that is the best thing a parent can do. I do stress out about it quite a bit and food is definitely a charged issue at our home which isn't good. But over all, it is going okay and I will stay the course. Many kids definitely seem to like/dislike certain foods and rather than fight it, if your kids don't have any serious health issues, I would just keep them eating as healthy as possible without making food an issue. There is a website, I just signed up for (very American) it is: www.beyonddiet.com and I will see if this is a good resource. I will let you know what I think, but it comes highly recommended. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAlso, we have only Rice Dream at home which she likes. She gets milk in restaurants and at other people's homes. No cheese, yoghurt, etc. I have started on Spelt bread which isn't gluten free but has less gluten. She hates the gluten free bread. So we'll see if she likes that, but we've basically eliminated bread.
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