For some inexplicable reason, it’s considered unacceptable to hand your kids a box of cereal every evening and declare, “Dinner’s served!” Honestly, I’m on the verge of telling them they need to figure out their own meals if they want anything to eat — I’ve had it with watching them push my lovingly prepared meals around their plates, claiming they’re full, only to come asking for snacks half an hour later.
They don’t understand that feeding a family involves more than just standing over the stove stirring pots. It includes the not-so-fun task of meal planning, where I struggle to find options that are somewhat healthy yet won’t end up in the trash. I know for sure they’ll devour anything beige or that glows orange, so it’s tempting to serve dinosaur-shaped nuggets and neon mac and cheese nightly, knowing they’ll clean their plates.
Yet the mom guilt kicks in, and my inner voice echoes phrases like “nutritional deficiencies” and “childhood obesity crisis.” So there I am, endlessly scrolling through Pinterest, desperately searching for something healthy that isn’t a total flop. I tell myself to include a vegetable. Are cucumber slices anything more than crunchy water? Does tomato sauce count?
I attempt to broaden their palate by introducing new foods; they’ve tried risotto, radicchio, quinoa, and kale, along with mashed cauliflower and butternut squash. I’ve smothered various dishes in cheese, pureed them into soups, and served them over pasta because kids will always eat pasta, right?
I go to great lengths experimenting with food, hoping that someday they’ll prefer wholesome options over processed junk. But despite occasional victories, it usually ends up the same: a few polite bites that I force them to take (we call this a “no-thank-you taste”), some half-hearted nibbles, selective picking of “too squishy” items, and creative rearranging of food to appear they’ve eaten more than they actually have, complete with wrinkled noses and grimaces. And there I am, shaking my fists in frustration and wondering, “You’ll eat a booger, but you won’t try quinoa?!”
It gets even trickier. Their picky eating habits leave me stuck with leftovers, which – let’s face it – are only appetizing for so long. The amount of uneaten food that I’ve guilt-shoved into my mouth instead of the trash could account for at least 15 pounds of extra weight on me, if not more.
To top it off, I have to clean up after the meal I painstakingly prepared, which my kids treat like a plate of something revolting, adding insult to injury.
Despite my frustrations, I maintain my eat-it-or-starve policy. It won’t harm them to eat decent, unprocessed meals once or twice a day. If they’re truly hungry, they’ll eat whatever I serve, and guess what? It’s not always going to be pizza and fries (as much as I’d love that).
So, I’ll keep pushing through, searching for recipes that strike a balance between healthful and tasty — because somewhere between kale chips and mozzarella sticks, there must be a happy medium. Even though they’ll probably never appreciate the effort that goes into dinnertime, I refuse to give up trying to convince them that my cooking isn’t as terrible as they claim.
But in the meantime, I’m allowed to vent. After all, if they can eat boogers, they can certainly manage to nibble on a whole grain or vegetable.
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Summary:
This article discusses the frustrations of preparing meals for picky children who often refuse to eat nutritious food. The author shares the challenges of meal planning, the guilt associated with unhealthy eating habits, and the effort put into introducing new foods. Despite these challenges, the author remains determined to provide healthy meals and vent about the struggles of parenting.