My kid eats what I put in front of him or he goes hungry AND does not leave the dinner table. I don't know how many times he hasn't liked something and had to sit at the table for 2 hours. He doesn't do that anymore! I don't want him to go hungry, and I know the food I cook is good for him. Most of the time he doesn't want to eat because he wants to play, or do something else. That doesn't fly with me, he will sit there till that food is gone.
When I was a kid I HATED brussel sprouts (STILL DO!!!), cabbage, sweet potatoes, spinach, collard greens, and pretty much everything else that is really green (has a lot of chlorophyll in it). Peas, green beans, and broccoli are the only exceptions, even to this day. My parents cooked the nasty ones on a regular basis, and although I put up a fight they MADE me eat them. I was not a happy child, but I was healthy. Now I am old enough to choose what I eat, and you won't see cabbage or brussel sprouts in my house. When I was a kid I didn't have a choice, and I didn't die from it. I'm still alive, and we only got sick every once in a great while because we ate healthy. Mom knows best, and if the food is nutritious that's all that matters. I didn't go hungry cause my mom knew how to cook healthy, and I didn't get sick cause my immune system was good because I ate healthy.
My friend lets her child pick and choose what to eat, to the point of this child putting her food on other people's plates. She wants macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, etc, not good home cooked food. This kid is NOT healthy. She won't eat vegetables, and her mother lets her get away with it. I can't stand for that. All she has to do is throw a tantrum and she gets her way, and I know that although some kids may genuinely not like something I would rather they were miserable and healthy instead of happy and sick.
It may seem cruel, but the kids in other countries would KILL for beans and rice, so what right does my kid have to be picky? God has blessed us with food, we will not go hungry. Just because it's not the food they would prefer does not change the fact that they must eat it. I love my child, and desire the best for him. We don't have much money, so whatever I can manage to cook is what he gets. I don't give him the option of not eating, he won't get up till the food's gone.
Kids can be very stubborn, I don't know how many times my friend's child will take one or two little bites and still say she doesn't like it just so she doesn't have to eat it and gets her way. It sucks dealing with a stubborn kid, but I am the parent, not my child, his health is my responsibility and I'll be darned if he's gonna go to bed hungry just cause he's being picky.
I'm sorry if this sounds cruel, but keep in mind I was once the wannabe picky eater. My parents made me eat, and the good outweighs the bad. Tough love ain't supposed to be easy!!!!
.....now B sprouts..i love...
