You Wouldn't Eat It..So Why Should They?

I stepped into my role as a Step-Mom a little late into the game.  My Step-daughter was 6 when I was introduced to this new role that would become such a huge part of my life.  I have had very little experience with parenting being as I am an only child, so I would say I walked, or ran full speed, into this situation with an open mind and open heart. (My husband and I were engaged within six months of meeting each other).

There are tons of things to write about being a Step-parent *future blogs to come* but one topic which has really plagued me since the beginning is the food challenge.  You know..the one most parents bring up.  "My kids only eat chicken nuggets or pizza" or "I have to make two separate meals every night" or "My kids won't eat any vegetables."

I walked right into this common conudrum...and saw that all of the above were pretty much happening.  My Step-daughter lives on a steady diet of chicken nuggets, pasta with butter and peas, chicken cutlets, and meatloaf. (Hey at least peas was thrown into the mix)  Lucky for us, she has had an aversion to cheese since she was four years old, but if not I would say that pizza and mac and cheese would be on that list.  How can a kid not like cheese is beyond me!

If we ever tried to introduce anything new to the table, we would be met with tears of resistance and demands that pasta or chicken nuggets be provided.  Paired with the fear that your kid would starve to death, topped with cries that we were going to actually "starve her" led us to continue providing her what she wanted.

But how did this all happen?  When did the switch occur that the parents started to think...yea chicken nuggets and pasta with butter is ok tonight...and tomorrow night...and the next night.  *I cannot comment too much here since I missed this stage in the process.  But I wonder how a parent goes from providing a home cooked meal for everyone...and slowly migrates into home cooked meals for the adults and a processed one for the children.*

Don't get me wrong...we all love some dino chicken nuggets every now and again.  And when my husband is making those, don't think he doesn't heat up a few extra for both of us.  But we would by no means be making ourselves a steady diet of processed chicken and pasta every single night.

So this leads to my main question...If it's not ok for us to eat it, why is it ok for them?  As adults, we make our smoothies, and eat our salads, yet we send our kids to school with lunchables, chips, and processed fruit snacks.  We make these choices for ourselves, because we understand what a healthy diet is, and we know what processed and unhealthy foods do to us.  Yet, day in and day out I see parents providing these chemically loaded foods for their children, while living a different lifestyle for themselves.  

Listen up people...if I had no thoughts as to process the nutritional value of food (and maybe some of us are better at it than others) I would eat pizza every single day.  And our kids don't have that thought process.  So of course they will demand chicken nuggets and pasta, because it tastes good!  And who would choose broccoli over macaroni and cheese if given the option?

My Aunt told me a story:  She was hungry and asked her Grandmother for some chips.  Her Grandmother replied, "you can have some fresh berries." To which my Aunt replied, "I don't want those.  I want chips.  And I'm starving!"  Her Grandmother said, "If you are starving, you will eat the berries."  And berries is what she provided.  *Moral of the story here is...your kids won't starve!  And when they are hungry...they will eat what we provide them!

Our kids don't have the ability to go food shopping.  They don't pick out their menu online, or call an uber to take them to the grocery store, or make money to buy what they want. We provide it for them.  We make those choices.  And we need to make the best ones we can.  

So just keep that in mind when you are preparing food for your kids.  Is it something you would eat?  And if your answer is no...why is it ok to feed it to them?

<3 P.S. This is by no means an easy process once you are in the thick of it.  It is a daily struggle to try to change the eating habits of a 9 year old.  But with a consistent mind set, and trying little things here and there, we can only hope for an improved pallet and healthier eating options further down the road.