Change is a comin'

There is a BIG change a comin' at the Asbell house.

Stop. We are NOT pregnant.

We are just changing around how we are approaching food with the boys. My kids are picky. I was veeeeerrrry picky as a kid (mom - quit nodding your head). John was picky as a kid. It is only natural we pass both our good and bad traits onto our kids.

I got a lot more adventurous with my food selections as I became an adult. Now, there are very few foods I flat out refuse. I'll try most things once. My palate has matured. No longer do I have to live on mac and cheese and hot dogs as I did when I was 7. John is the same way. Some of our favorite dishes, we would have turned our noses up at 20 years ago.

While I was pregnant I read every pregnancy book, magazine, website, and message forum out there. To me, knowledge is power and I wanted to know it all. I always read that whatever the mother eats while pregnant the baby will get used to. The larger the selection the less picky the baby will be later in life. Well, all these studies must mean MUCH later in life because I ate it all. I was religious about my diet and types of food. I made sure to have a large variety of fruits, veggies, lean proteins and the nightly occasional sweet. And my babies were wonderful eaters those first 15-18 months. We we started solids at 6 months they tried and ate everything!

Pre-pregnancy I would have told you up and down I would never be a short order chef. Well...let's just say there is a reason people say "Never say never."

Sleep training my kids??? Yeah, I ROCKED that. My kids are the BEST at going to bed on their own and staying in their own bed.
Feeding my kids??? Well, let's just say, I have room for improvement.

John put his foot down on January 1 and declared Evan was going to have to start trying new food. In order to get his dessert each night, he would have to add a new food to his list. John then went out and bought a fancy new thing for one of his video games (see how much I get invited to play?) and set it on top of the refrigerator. He had to eat 25 new foods (or foods that he has once said he doesn't like) before he could get the ...thing...
And just to be clear, we are not talking about foods like sushi or calamari. We are talking about ham and grapes for cripes sake.

This was the first food. A cutie. It's name alone makes you want to eat it up! It small, easy to peel, delicious! Evan didn't have to eat the whole fruit. He didn't have to eat half. All Evan had to do was eat ONE SLICE.

The drama...the internal conflict....the DRAMA...

 

I really really wanted to set him up for success. We've tried this once before where I forced him to eat and it took a bad turn. So I really wanted him to do this on his own and be successful. 

Thank heavens he put it in his mouth and ate it. I deemed it, "okay" but made sure to tell me not to put them in his lunch.

Today is January 20th. You would like he would be 5 days away from his goal. Sadly, he's 9 days, but we are SO proud of him!!! He's tried a wide assortment of foods going as exotic as BBQ pork and a bite of turkey burger (some of the first real meats he's eaten since he was 2).

I have decided January and February will be our 'try new foods' month. Starting in March, these foods will make a regular appearance on his plate. 

All your short order cooks out there with picky eaters...know you are not alone in this battle!