Invitation To "The Dinner Time Battle"



Photo courtesy of myhealthguardian.com



We never have a relaxing dinner. My little guy, Hayden refuses to sit in his high chair for longer than ten minutes, which results in me trying to scarf as much food as possible in that amount of time. Thankfully, I am not one to get indigestion or anything like that. Whatever I have not eaten is often shared with him and it becomes a mess. Not just a bean spilled on the table but a huge mess with food all mixed together half on the table, half on the floor, and half in his mouth. He is 1 year old and learning to self feed! Hayden has his own plate in his high chair with the same food, however, mom's food looks much better. It doesn't matter how many times I say no or even sit him back in his highchair it is not a winning battle. Often, it is easier just to get through dinner with him quiet and on my lap rather than screaming and in his seat.

Now, to tell about my big kid Gabe. He has recently moved on to what I would call an Extreme case of “ the picky eater”. He does not like anything with spice. The only spice I can seems to use is garlic and seasoning salt. However, I can only add garlic to the potatoes. If there is any spice on his chicken, the dogs are getting it. This must be why we have a fat dog! That was the case a few weeks ago anyway. Now, I can't even get him to eat chicken. Not even chicken nuggets. He has even given up hot dogs over the last two days. What kid doesn't eat hot dogs? If he was allowed to choose his dinner it would be apples,oranges, cucumbers, hard boiled egg, and Scooby Do GoGurt. It is not an unhealthy meal but I would love him to learn to eat what I cook for dinner, like he used to a year ago.

I am inviting you to follow along with me over the next 5 days as I start to battle this problem. Starting Monday October 18, 2010 I will begin a series titled “The Dinner Time Battle”. I will share with you what was made for dinner, my ups and downs of dinner time, and if Gabe ate his dinner or not. I am putting my mothering skills to the challenge and sharing it with you! We will deal with getting Hayden to sit in his highchair another time. One challenge at a time. :) Check back tomorrow to see our progress!