I am so tired of hearing about ways to get kids to eat good food. I’m tired of blogs and books telling me to disguise the food under pizza cheese - or to blend up broccoli and add it to my stew. The only thing this teaches kids is that I’m a sneaky mother - not a decent cook.
This article in the New York Times today was the best I’ve read in a while on the topic.
I’m always getting questions from other mothers on how to get kids to eat decently. Here are the best ways I’ve found to do it.
1. Eat well yourself. Be an example of eating well. If you eat good foods, your kids will see that they aren’t terrible.
2. Fess Up. Just admit it - there are some vegetables you don’t like. I don’t like brussel sprouts - or lima beans. Consequently, I don’t cook them - or make my kids eat them. On the flip side, I understand that there are certain things my kids don’t like too. So I don’t make them eat them (but you have to try them). But they don’t get out of eating well - they just get to choose something else.
3. Offer more fruit. Because my mother used to make salads with only tomatoes or cucumbers, I thought that was how they had to be made. But I learned that you can put anything in a salad - and now I add Mandarin oranges, apple slices, pear chunks, Chinese noodles, almonds - you name it. It makes the whole salad more appealing to kids - and they might actually get a piece of lettuce or spinach in their mouths by accident!
4. Don’t buy things in boxes. I’m serious. Don’t buy snack cakes, boxed cookies or “Fruit by the Foot.” If it looks like candy - it probably is, even if it has the word “fruit” in it. Don’t buy it. You’ll save money and you’re kids won’t eat it. Believe it or not - your kids do not have to dictate what goes in your pantry. Buy only healthy foods and they’ll eat them….even if they complain for a couple of days first!
5. Make dessert. I instituted a new policy. On the days we eat dessert, we make it ourselves. That way we have to “work” for it. And there is usually only enough for after dinner. That way, no one is sneaking cookies out of the pantry after school - or after bedtime. It’s been good for my waistline too!
I am so tired of hearing about ways to get kids to eat good food. I’m tired of blogs and books telling me to disguise the food under pizza cheese - or to blend up broccoli and add it to my stew. The only thing this teaches kids is that I’m a sneaky mother - not a decent cook.
This article in the New York Times today was the best I’ve read in a while on the topic.
I’m always getting questions from other mothers on how to get kids to eat decently. Here are the best ways I’ve found to do it.
1. Eat well yourself. Be an example of eating well. If you eat good foods, your kids will see that they aren’t terrible.
2. Fess Up. Just admit it - there are some vegetables you don’t like. I don’t like brussel sprouts - or lima beans. Consequently, I don’t cook them - or make my kids eat them. On the flip side, I understand that there are certain things my kids don’t like too. So I don’t make them eat them (but you have to try them). But they don’t get out of eating well - they just get to choose something else.
3. Offer more fruit. Because my mother used to make salads with only tomatoes or cucumbers, I thought that was how they had to be made. But I learned that you can put anything in a salad - and now I add Mandarin oranges, apple slices, pear chunks, Chinese noodles, almonds - you name it. It makes the whole salad more appealing to kids - and they might actually get a piece of lettuce or spinach in their mouths by accident!
4. Don’t buy things in boxes. I’m serious. Don’t buy snack cakes, boxed cookies or “Fruit by the Foot.” If it looks like candy - it probably is, even if it has the word “fruit” in it. Don’t buy it. You’ll save money and you’re kids won’t eat it. Believe it or not - your kids do not have to dictate what goes in your pantry. Buy only healthy foods and they’ll eat them….even if they complain for a couple of days first!
5. Make dessert. I instituted a new policy. On the days we eat dessert, we make it ourselves. That way we have to “work” for it. And there is usually only enough for after dinner. That way, no one is sneaking cookies out of the pantry after school - or after bedtime. It’s been good for my waistline too!