5:00 at our house is not a fun time unless there are filled plates on the table or dinner is about to come out of the oven. I try to pick up the kids between 3:00 and 3:30 each day so you would think an hour and a half is plenty of time of get a nice real food dinner on the table. Ha! Between diaper changes, toddler potty breaks, refereeing play time, keeping the toddler engaged in a non-destructive activity and keeping the baby from putting every small piece of lint or toy in her mouth it is a little hard to concentrate on dinners. I try work Sunday afternoon/evening on getting meals prepped for the next week. Having veggies cut, pizza dough made and frozen, casseroles put together and meat cooked ahead of time make a huge difference. Unfortunately, all that work is for nothing if no one eats what I cook. I don't make crazy weird dinners, just normal ones that are all from scratch.
Yesterday Jay and I were discussing dinners and how much harder it is for me to provide 3 different meals than just one meal. Plus Charlotte is such a good eater, but when she sees her brother only eat fruit and cheese for dinner that is all she wants now too. So we decided everyone is going to get the same dinner and they can eat what they want, but they have to take one bite out of each item on their plate.
Tonight I served baked spaghetti, salad for the adults, toasted rolls and bananas for the kids. Nothing fancy but plenty filling if you actually eat the food. Charlotte ate two helpings of spaghetti, a whole banana and half the roll. She had an appetizer of frozen peas while I was setting the table. Trey ate one bite of his roll, declared he did not like it, and then proceeded to eat his banana. Honestly I was hoping he would ate least eat the whole roll to fill him up, but that's okay.
Here was the kicker, when he asked to be excused Jay told him he had to eat one bite of his spaghetti before he could get down. We have one stubborn child. He sat there for about 10 minutes refusing to take a bite. Then he continued to drop noodles on the floor, resulting in time out. After which, Jay brought him back to the table to sit until he ate one noodle from his spaghetti. About 20 minutes later a noodle was finally eaten. Only after Charlotte got a small piece of a cookie because she had finished her spaghetti. Nothing like a little bribing to get your child to eat something.
I recognize that Trey is a picky eater. But everything I have read says that you often have to try something 20 times before you like it. Jay is also a picky eater. Tonight he was very understanding of Trey's predicament, but also very firm that he had to eat one bite of spaghetti. Trey even declared he liked the noodle after he ate it, but he didn't want to eat another one. I think the process was just as emotionally and physically hard for Jay as it was for Trey. He said making Trey eat one bite of his food brought back a lot of painful memories for him.
Seriously, who knew dinner time could be filled with so much drama?
I was a Trey. I refused to eat and would have to sit at the table until bedtime if I didn't try my supper. I remember asking all too often, "how many more bites?!" I'm still a picky eater even though my mom made homemade meals and refused to offer an alternative. You're doing a great job as a mom! The kids just don't want you to forget suppertime in the new house.:)
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