Eating is something I like to do. “Mommy, what are we going to eat later?” was the first question I asked my mother as a child when I got home from school. I was (and still am) very happy to meet a nice boy who also loved food:my boyfriend and now my husband (even though we are not married). We always enjoyed cooking together and enjoying it extensively. We also like to eat out. We don't really care where we eat. There is always something we like. The choice on the menus is more too large than too small for us. Also abroad food has never been a problem for us. Want to taste something new? Yes please! But dinner with children is a different story.
Read also: What are we eating mom? That question drives you crazy!
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Well, you guessed it… our kids are very picky eaters. Unbelievable how that is possible if you really like almost everything yourself. And also difficult, because I find it very difficult to empathize with it. What I find most annoying is that they ruin a meal not only for themselves, but also for us. What a huge difference it is, having a nice meal with just the two of you or with three grumbling children. Dinner with children is always a challenge for us.
With a baby I found the meals the most annoying. Then you are feeding the baby yourself when everyone is already eating well. I can't handle that very well, because when I'm hungry and see others enjoying it, I want to have food myself 😉 . Giving vegetable snacks went well with all three of our girls, they still liked everything back then. Things went wrong for us when the mashed snacks were replaced by loose pieces of meat, fish, pasta, rice, potatoes and vegetables. And then they start grumbling 'I don't like that!' or even worse 'Bah, that's dirty!', while you are just having a nice meal yourself…
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Of course, it is mainly the healthy products and less standard (new) recipes that they find less tasty (say!). And those are precisely the dishes that we really enjoy. Well, the enjoyment diminishes the moment children start grumbling, refusing to eat dinner or even walking away from the table. We ignore it as much as possible, but of course that doesn't work at all. Because well, you do get annoyed and sometimes you have to do something about it…
Tips:Book tips for picky eaters:Top tips for picky eaters and Picky eaters by Tania Stegen-Hanson or Tafelklets, also highly recommended.
My solution? Of course I don't. You can't just cram in food, and you can't eat dinner at all. They have to do that themselves. I do notice that our children's dinner gets better as they get older. Here are a few tips.
Read also: healthy eating with children, it's dinner time again
Not giving too much negative attention works better if a positive conversation is held during the meal, a nice distraction. In our house there is more than enough cackling (that's what you get with four chickens in the house and only one pathetic rooster). If this does not come naturally, here are five questions to ask your child(ren) to arrive at a positive conversation.
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