From: hancock@Aero.org (Melody F. Hancock)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: RECIPES NEEDED FOR FUSSY EATERS
Date: 28 Jan 1993 21:42:01 GMT
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: lotus.aero.org



|> >Nancy M. Schnepp (ns@bohr.physics.purdue.edu) wrote:
|> >> I have two fussy eaters, ages 7 and 11.  I am very tired
|> >> of the spaghettios or macaroni and cheese suppers.  
|> >

|> In article <C18Eq5.1CH@srgenprp.sr.hp.com> brett@sr.hp.com () writes:
|> >I realize this may sound a bit cold, but is there anything wrong with giving
|> >them what everyone else is having and if they don't want it they go hungry?
|> >
|> >I'm not suggesting you give it to them cold for breakfast, they just don't
|> >get any snacks or treats until the next scheduled meal.
|> >
|> >Hunger can be a good motivator to eat.  Besides, I doubt any kid in modern
|> >developed country is going to suffer any physical harm from missing a
|> >few dinners (and a kid in a famine area isn't going to be fussy about what
|> >he/she gets to eat).
|> >

In article <1jnt18INN4hm@elroy.jpl.nasa.gov>, lauraf@classy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Laura Floom) writes:

|> Everything that is served in our house is something that both my husband and
|> I like. It makes sense, we both decide on the menus, and share in the cooking
|> and shopping. My son doesnt really have the same input (he isnt quite 3). I
|> am trying to envision a scenario where I decide to cook something for dinner
|> that my husband doesnt like, and I know that, but refuse to consider it in 
|> the meal plan. Nor, would I allow him to go to the fridge and get something
|> that is more palatable to him. Doesnt sound like a good idea. 
|> 
|> Trying to apply the same thing to the kids, the alternative would be to only
|> serve things that they approve of. That isnt a good idea, cause there is a 
|> limit to how much 'kid' food, most adults are going to tolerate. The things
|> kids do like tend to be simple to prepare. I honestly dont see a problem in
|> considering thier needs, as well as the parent needs when planning meals. That
|> of course is assumning that the kids arent being unreasonable about their
|> requests.
|> 

I thought I'd describe the current system we use in our house.  I've been doing
this since Joshua was about 3 1/2 and it seems to work well.  Once a week, I write
down the menus for the upcoming week.  (For us, this served two purposes.  It
cut down on the grocery bill cuz I bought only what we needed that week and I also
didn't have to figure out what to cook for dinner - seemed far too much
cerebral activity for me after work...)  Anyway, when planning the menus, I ask
Joshua (now 5) and Nathan (2) what they would like for dinner.  They each get
to pick a night.  Inevitably, the selections are pizza, mac and cheese, scrambled
eggs or pancakes.  This means that at least two nights a week, there are no
complaints about dinner because they both like the same types of foods.  The
other nice thing about this system is that when Joshua says "But I *hate* scrambled
eggs" (even though he *loved* them a couple of days before) I just remind him
that this dinner was his choice and that usually stops any "But I hate...."
comments at least for the evening.  For the remaining evenings, I try to fix
food to everyone's liking.  Now, there are some nights in which one or both
boys just refuse to eat.  For example, spit pea soup didn't go over well...
In these cases, we try to coax them to eat say one or two or three bites.  Just
so they say they have tasted it and *still* don't like it.  If they still refuse
to eat, then they can have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  But that's their
only choice.  They can choose to eat dinner, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or
choose not to eat anything.  This seems to be a good compromise for us.  We don't
feel like we're forcing our boys to eat something they may not truly like or go
hungry and at the same time, I don't feel like I'm running a restaurant and spending
the evening taking orders and cooking.  

Anyway, this works well for us so thought I'd share it.

melody


|> 
Newsgroups: misc.kids