Dear Super Mom, Do Not Despair There Is Hope For Your Picky Eater After All
Dear Super Mom,
Do Not Despair There Is Hope For Your Picky Eater After All
Can you feed your family well and still save money?
What if you have a picky eater thrown into the mix too?
In an effort to save money, more so this year than ever before, we have made a habit out of meal planning together as a family.
In the past, we have done this off and on, and have found that whenever we actually stuck to a meal plan, we actually do better physically and financially, thus killing two birds with one stone.
Since we have had such great success with it in past years, we are making meal planning one of our goals this year to get serious about our physical & financial health.
A Family Meal Appeal:
Every Sunday, I’d take out my colorful dry-erase board and sit down at the kitchen table with my hubby and our kids to brainstorm what we would like to eat during the upcoming week ahead.
We would usually do this during breakfast brunch when we are good and hungry and eager to start the day.
With coffee in hand, hubby and I are ready to bounce off ideas to our kids as they:
- nod in agreement –or-
- shake their heads in defiance to every suggestion we’d dish out.
My son, much like my hubby, is a natural born foodie, in our family.
It is evident that the apple does not fall far from the tree.
Because, just like my husband, he has a very distinguishing palette and is very particular about what goes into his food.
So naturally, whenever anyone asks him what he wants to be when he grows up, my son would always scream out excitedly,
“Cooker! I wanna be a cooker when I grow up!”
Me: “You mean chef right?”
Son: “Hey wait, is that the person who makes all the yummy food?”
Me: “Yes, that’s otherwise known as a Mommy or in your case, a chef,” I reply jokingly.
Son: “Well, I don’t want to be a Mommy but I will be a chef!”
Case in point, there isn’t much he’d object to when it comes to food, except maybe mushrooms because of the texture.
Shhh! Don’t tell him, but I minced these up and mix them into his food anyway and he has no clue that they are even in there 90% of the time! 😉
Anyway, so Sunday morning meal planning is always his favorite day of the week because he gets a majority of the say in what we will be eating as a family.
It’s a Big Deal!
Although to us adults, a weekly task like menu planning may seem a little redundant and mundane, it is a big deal to little kids because it gives them an opportunity to be a contributing member of your family unit and to heard, valued, and respected for their individuality and their thoughts and opinions.
If you have a kid like my son, in your family, this will help you immensely when it comes to delegating tasks and involving your kids in the decision making process for your family unit when it comes to a task you do not enjoy as much, like planning out what to cook for the week.
However, if your kid is anything like my daughter, who is the complete opposite of my foodie loving son and does not enjoy food whatsoever (a self-proclaimed Sucartarian), do not despair.
Even the pickiest eater has a say about what tastes good and what doesn’t to their discerning taste buds.
Ask them what their favorite food(s) are and include them in your weekly menu planning.
This is what we did as well, and thank goodness we did it!
After sooooo many years of being, pleading, disguising, bargaining, and compromising with her, it finally dawned on her one day that not all food is bad. 🙂
She actually DID give peas a chance! (pun absolutely intended 😉
And then carrots, and corn, and broccoli, oh my!!! 🙂
So, whatever it is you do, it is imperative that you hold your ground and that:
DO NOT GIVE UP!
You are awesome!
Let out a roar! 🙂
Just keep trying.
It will get better, I promise. <3
There will be many days and many nights when you feel as though you are one with Homer Simpson because you are down to your last couple strands of hair on your head.
You are just beyond frustrated with your kid and, of course, yourself, for trying every trick in the book there could possibly be and your sweet but absolutely stubborn kid just won’t budge not even for one measly green pea.
You: “It’s round and it’s green and it’s so good for you, please just eat it already?” (slapping your forehead with a, “doh!”)
Your Kiddo: “No!” (clearly not amused and could care less about your poor sense of humor)
I feel for you…
But have heart, I promise you, please do not give up on them nor on yourself!
There is a light at the end of that tunnel!
And in our house, it is called Taco Night Tuesdays! lol
Yep! Woohoo! It happened to us. (She prefers nachos to quesadillas, but hey, that’s a win nonetheless! We will gladly take it!)
Remember, like pasta sauce, salsa is also red and you can add and puree anything you want to your heart’s desire and hopefully your sweet kiddo will learn to adapt as they grow older and hopefully more curious and open-minded about the food they eat.
Do not worry, you will finally find your happy groove with your kid too.
Just keep trying to pique their interest, even if it means cutting off the crust on those silly sandwiches they’ve requested for the thousandth time and sticking more flowers than you care to remember on those silly bento boxes.
It will click one day, hopefully, sooner than later.
But until then, here is a free printable weekly menu plan below that you can use to help you and your family plan out your meals for the week in order to help you avoid the drive-thru lines and save yourself some moolah in the process.
Enjoy!
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