Do you make your kids eat what they are served?

[mullers3acers]

When I was growning up it was eat what was on your plate. I have changed one thing with our menu is when dh and I have liver and onions the girls get mac and cheese.

 

[gumpsgirl]

I sure do! They eat what is served here. They are allowed to choose one food, only one, that they absolutely hate or despise and they don't ever have to eat that food. The rest they eat. Period! I have tried to raise my children to know how precious food is and that the time will come that picky won't be an option. Might I add, that time is not far off. They also all realize that there are other children that don't have anything, wonder when the next meal will be (if ever) and would love to have the food that they get placed in front of them. Food here is not a debate, it's a gift.

 

[MandyH]

My mom just took us all over town and got what each of us wanted for supper!! Not me, we live out in the boonies and I LOVE to cook. My 3 year old has to at least try ONE bite of whatever new is in front of her. BUT when I start cooking supper, I do try to cook around her favorites. I have a lot of overweight people in my family, and they will tell you it started when they were little and their mom made them clean their plates. I DO NOT under any circumstance, make her even attempt to clean her plate. BUT, if she doesn't eat, she's just hungry. This isn't McDonald's and it takes a lot of time to cook a big meal, so eat or be hungry.

 

[joebryant]

I didn't bother to read any of the other answers because I don't care what children like or not like. When my two were coming up, Anne and I never insisted on their eating anything. If they starved, it was their problem, not ours. Whatever was on the table was what was available. If they didn't want it, tough. They eat anything now; however, my daughter is into "living food" now, but she still eats meat and sweets when she feels like it, or whatever a hostesss serves if she goes out.

 

[mrsengeseth]

I've been luckily bless with kids that will eat anything. So much so that my oldest begged me to let him spend his allowance on an eggplant he wanted for dinner. We got weird looks in the grocery store that day. I think it has a lot to do with exposure. They are exposed to all kinds of stuff and we eat things other families might not...elk, bison, all kinds of game, different foods from different ethnicity..dh is German so i serve a lot of german and european inspired dinners...sauerbraten, rouladen, spaetzle, and so on. But we live in an area where you can sample all kinds of Indian, french, Chinese cuisine.

As for them turning their noses up at stuff...well...i can't remember them doing it. But our rule is they eat that which is in front of them or have a PBJ if at home. If at a friends house, they eat what is in front of them or nothing at all. They will not be rude about it if they don't like other peoples dinners.

 

[Wynette]

I just want to say to walkswithdog: AMEN!!!

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Nope. Don't care if they like the food or not. It's what's for dinner. If they don't like it...they don't have to eat it. But I never made anything else for them. There were never multiple meals made for everyones "taste". That is a ridiculous waste of time and food. They should be taught from very young that food is a gift...not to be wasted or snubbed.

There are millions of hungry children in the world that would eat anything they were offered if they could.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Growing up we ate what mom served for dinner or you went to bed hungry!! And it was the latter for one of my sisters many times! lol I never fixed anything different for my children you ate what was provided, same thing goes for the grandkids, if everyone is here for dinner. If I know I have them for an evening I will plan my meals around their tastes and if thats not eaten its too bad, Grandma's kitchen closes down.

 

[texaschickmama]

I completely agree with MissPrissy. My kids, almost 7 and almost 3, eat a variety of foods that I don't think most kids their age like. They actually ask for a salad or for broccoli. My daughter actually cheers when we buy fresh broccoli at the store.

My rule is you eat what is on your plate, and I don't overload them, they do have much smaller tummies than we do, before you get anything else for the evening snack. I can't keep fruit in the house, that is the first to go when I bring home the groceries. Now, there are some things that my son doesn't care for, that is fine, for instance beans, with that in mind, as I make dinner I make something else that I know he will eat. I don't force them to eat what they don't care for when I know they will east something else equally healthy.

 

[MamaDragon]

I too, grew up in the "Eat what's put before you, and best clean your plate" era. My parents could tell when we were honestly full, or just saying it to get out of eating something. Many's the time I got last nights unfinished supper for breakfast the next morning.

I once went on a hunger strike.... went three days facing that same plate of food. (pre-microwave days, and it was served cold!) The hunger won out... I finally ate it, and found out that my Dad was even more stubborn than I was. Later found out that he didn't like the dinner any more than I did, but he ate it anyway. End of THAT story!

I will not force my kids to clean their plates UNLESS, they've wolfed down one or two of the items for supper, and left the third sitting untouched. Starch foods are the exception. Overweight adults run rampant in our family, so if the kids don't want potatoes or noodles, I'm not gonna stress as long as they eat the meat and veggies. They have to eat SOME (usually half) of the meat, as they need the protein. Most nights I don't even fix a starch, unless Hubby has asked for it. They get enough starches at school, and then some!

They can eat what's for supper, or go without. If they leave the table, and THEN decide they are hungry, they can come back and eat their supper. Until all the supper on the stove is gone. If dinner is gone and the 10 yr old is still hungry, he can re-heat leftovers if there are any, or make a bologna sandwich if there aren't.

We've got 10,8,6 yr olds. two are picky eaters. Being picky on the starches just means you get less dinner. You MIGHT get more veggies as a substitute.

We also have Movie night - kids pick what they want, and eat in their room and watch a movie. We get a quiet dinner one night a week, and usually fix something the kids don't like, but we do.

Restaurants are a luxury. We might eat out once every 6 months or so. We have ONE rule.... you order it, you MUST eat it, ALL of it, or take it home to eat later.