The Master wrote:
On Wed, 29 Apr 2009, Stephanie wrote:

However, in the real world, where kids already eat the junk food,
what then? Give a chicken nugget eating child some grilled chicken
breast strips, he or she will ask what the white stuff is (the
chicken) and refuse to eat it.

And thene what? Proceed to starve to death on thee spot? Assuming
that you speak to your child anywa, you explain about healthy eating
habits and learning new ways.

You're funny... Reasoning with an 8 year old? ROTFLMAO!



You know what, you don't have the advantage of my whole story. So why don't
I share.

Wen my son was born, I was a smoker who had quit smoking while pregnant. I
resumed smoking nearly the millilsecond my son was done nursing. I was very
large at that point having never had very good eating habits to begin with.
Some years went by. And as they did, I had helped my son adopt some pretty
crappy eating habits of his own. He did not eat "enouogh" so I made
something else. Pickiest eatere you ever saw.

Over time two things dawned on me. I was not healthy. I also, frankly, was
not as attractive as I wanted to be. How can you be with that stinky thing
hanging out of your face?!? Etcetera and so forth. Over quite a bit of time
a journey followed which involved DH and I quitting smoking. We both slimmed
down, me by Weight Watchers and then learning how to exercise with a
personal trainer (whose patience I tested by being such a weenie) and him by
exercising like a maniac and just eating nearly nothing but lean meat, fruit
and veggies. I went from an 18 to a a 6. (I don't know what the weights
are/were since weight has no meaning to me.)

At the same time we looked at our son's diet and concluded it was crap. We
floundered with what to do abouot it. We did not want to make him miserable!
The in-laws would bich that he was not eating 'enough' and would do what I
had... short order cook until DS could not stand thee sight of food, it
caused such a ruckus of oooh and wringing of hands. Thi Was Just Wrong. We
dutifully reported that DS's diet was crap and thata it was our fault and
that we were cogitating. He would smile and patiently remind us that no one
ever starved on brussel sprout island.

Slowly and over time, with a couple of strng shoves at important points, we
lessened the amount of crap food available ton the table. We spoke to him
about our responsibility as parents to help him grow up to be the best him
he could be. Usually did that NOT at meal time ... And then we smiled
understandingly and said No we are sorry, we are not making you mac n cheese
for the 100th time this week. Dinner tonight is meatloaf, mashed potatoes
and peas, carrots and grapes. When you have finished the microscopic amounts
of the things you don't like on your plate, you can have more potatoes.
Would you like to try the peas or the grapes tonight for a new food?


Now among his list of favorite foods:

- beef terryaki
- home made mac n cheese with whole wheat pasta
- baked chicken fingers
- salmon in pretty much any form you give it to him from grilled, loaf,
patties...
- peaches
- bananas
- corn (he does not fight veggies, but he doesnt really love them either)
- home made baked fish sticks
- yougurt smoothies with fruit...
- cheese slices on whole wheat crackers
- bagels with hummous (I bought hummus as some kind of mental collapse
thinking that there was no WAY he would like it. But if he didn't at least I
would. He loved it from the first try.)


Oh I cannot even go on. We have a few cookbooks now that they get to pick
what to cook out of, including "Deceptively Delicious" by Seinfeld's wife.
..I never decieve them, though I do spin. The beets in the cake are to make
it purple. My daughter has chosen to try tuna salad because the recipe is
made inside a pipe crust shaped like a fish even though she does not like
tuna....


And then there are things that they willingly accept though they dont care
about one way or the other. I mix pureed cauliflower into the home made mac
n cheese. It gives it a little extra tang that they like...

And we DO eat crap too, just not as a regular event. We make cookies like
everyone else, thoguh we don't expect dessert every night. When we have
bbq's, we buy a bag of chips. We have treats that are exactly that, treats.
And BOY the extra fun involved in the treat is so ... well.... fun!


So obviously your guffaws of you can't be serious and whatnot are not very
compelling to me.