The High of Success, the Low of Status Quo

The girls' Aunt and Uncle offered to babysit the other night so we could have an evening out. Obviously we accepted. My sister-in-law bravely agreed to continue Eat or Starve at their house. After a quick pep talk in the car about being respectful, kind and trying new things, we dropped L & M off and ran for the car.

Before the movie began, my phone buzzed twice. I braced myself for the inevitable "The girls are sobbing," "They are hungry and they won't eat dinner," etc. text. Instead I was greeted with this:

Each picture came with a single word attached, "Before." This immediately lead me to believe a horrendous "After" photo was coming; maybe broken dishes, peaches in hair, ketchup on their lovely upholstered chairs, the possibilities were fairly endless. I nervously waited for the follow up text:

"And after!! I'm sure the fact that we're not Mom and Dad played a part in them eating so well. L even tried and likes the cooked peaches!" I sat in my movie theater, more in awe of the awesomeness that had just occurred a few miles away than I was of the previews in front of me. They ate it. L tried something new and admitted she liked it. She's fiercely confident in her opinions, if you catch her at the right time, she would deny she liked chocolate covered chocolate just a prove herself correct. I admire that about her, I think she got that from me. I couldn't help but think "It's really working, they are starting to eat like normal people; well normal people that really like ketchup." We settled in to watch our movie full of the confidence of someone that just solved a major world problem.

Fast forward to the next evening.  We were out at a neighborhood party, lots of friends and food. L did a fairly good job of eating fruit and mac & cheese, but that's not really a challenge for her. M, on the other hand, ate oranges and Doritos all night. That was it. With my sails deflated we soldier on, maybe the next victory will come sooner rather than later?

Locally sourced, homemade meals are served daily...

Our youngest is transitioning from a wonderful family daycare to the real thing in a few weeks. She is turning three soon and I know she will love making friends with kids outside of our extended family plus, unlike our oldest, she enjoys interacting with people. The new daycare/preschool boasts that all the meals are made by a local chef with as much local produce as possible.  Nothing processed if it can be avoided.  Idealist Mom, that still lives tucked away deep inside me, reared her thoughtful little head and marveled at the wonderful, nutritious foods M would be munching on daily. As the director rattled off a sample meal plan that made my mouth water, Idealistic Mom was quickly replaced with Panic Attack Mom.

There were no chicken nuggets listed, pizza only once a week? Handmade tortellini? We tried that meal and M ate the blue berries and drank her milk.

As my husband chatted with the director about farm raised chickens, Spanish classes and other such daycare adventures I began weighing the options:

1. We pack a breakfast and lunch for her daily that consists of foods she will actually eat but have no variety. Bonus, this way we can be judged by all those awesome people that have kids that actually eat a variety of foods and have never so much as smelled a McDonald's chicken nugget.
2. We throw her to the mercy of hunger and see if she branches out a bit.  Bonus, this way we can be judged by all those people that pack meals for their kids so they don't starve.

Did I mention she fell off the growth chart for a while? By the time we were headed home I was mentally calculating if we could afford for me to quit my job and just stay home with her. I will admit I tend to think catastrophically when I get anxious. 

At the end of the day, we all work to prepare our kids for the real world in different ways; some families discuss manners, some work on hygiene, some work on academics. Our family is working on eating. Eat or Starve and be kind to others, now go to daycare/school.

The beginning of the end

Eat or Starve was born of desperation. With the wide-eyed wonder of new parenthood, I remember faithfully researching the best food to be your child's first food. I researched the best gadgets to make the most nutritious, organic, non GMO, etc etc foods for them to eat in puree form. I remember the anticipation of watching their beautiful little faces light up when they first tasted avocado, and spit it immediately on my shoes.

Picky eaters will slowly erode your belief in "healthy" and "nonhealthy" foods. There are calories and there are no calories, there are good eating days and not good eating days. When your picky little eater falls off the growth chart at their doctor's appointment, you find yourself wondering if maybe you could switch your kid from whole milk to half & half.

Eat or Starve is our correction from the craziness of being a short order cook; from accommodating the whims of tiny little people prone to rapidly changing whims. It is the realization that part of raising the geniuses of tomorrow is helping them learn to eat whatever is put in front them, because they don't serve chicken nuggets or mac and cheese at State Dinners or the Nobel Prize Awards. Eat or Starve is our mantra during meal time now.