Monday, November 27, 2006

Food Fight

Mealtimes can be battles for parents with toddlers, and we're no
stranger to that truth. Amy and I are trying to balance not making a
fuss over food in an unhealthy way with teaching Jada appropriate
dinner table behavior. So on the one hand, we're not going to rule
over her with a heavy hand in terms of eating her veggies and sitting
up straight. But on the other hand, we don't want to encourage
excessive pickiness or eating on the go.

The middle ground for us, so far, has been to have some healthy basics
that we'll rotate through while still giving her some choice to swap
within those choices if she's not feeling the one we've happened to
put in front of her. We're also trying to isolate eating in the high
chair and not when she's out and about, and scolding her when she does
things with her food or her utensils that are messy and ill-mannered.

Parents who've figured all this out, write a book and become
multi-millionaires . . . and/or tell us your secrets. We're OK with
Jada's diet, so that's not the advice I'm seeking. More so it's the
age-old control battle, fought on the familiar front of mealtime.
Jada's not a bad kid by any stretch, but we'd still like to make sure
she learns right and not wrong habits when it comes to conducting
herself around the dinner table.

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