The Mealtime Fight

Just note that this post is being written in real time. For over a week, I have been fighting with Aiden to EAT. Normally, I can’t get him to stop eating, but consistently for the past week and change he has been rather particular about what he wants. Most times, I have resorted to peanut butter & jelly, but even that failed with his father over the weekend. For breakfast, I’ve tried pancakes or waffles, you know our normal routine—he’s refused. He’s wanted bowls full of blueberries, so I give them to him. This morning specifically, I gave him blueberries and then I thought okay, cool—he’ll eat the blueberry waffle. Yeah, right.

I’ve tried the options thing, I’ve tried the putting food in front of him thing. I’ve tried everything—until today. Today, I tried something that I was so good at doing previously and that’s allowing him to be involved in the mealtime preparation process. What do I mean by that? Having him help make his meal. Some people may think this is time consuming or that your child will make a mess and get in your way, but guess what—it made my night a little bit more easier.

I chose what he was going to eat, but I made it fun for him. I talked him through each step of the process and made it exciting. It felt corny, but hey, these are the things we have to do for our kids. I had him pick out each fish stick or nugget or whatever you want to call them (they’re Trader Joe’s brand) and place them on the foil. Then he passed me the oven mitts, so I can put them on (he’s very much aware that the oven is hot). He watched me as I placed his nuggets in the oven and waited patiently as I turned on the oven light. I went into the freezer and said “Aiden, let’s get your peas.” I prompted him to pour his peas in the pot, oouuu and awed as the water went in and I turned on the flame remidning him that it was hot. After his meal was ready, we went back into the kitchen where I prompted him to find his favorite fork (Lord, please don’t let us lose that thing before I can buy more because then he really won’t eat. Just a note to add, he’s been refusing forks that aren’t his glittery blue Walmart fork). He then handed me the oven mitts again and we grabbed his meal out the oven. He pulled his chair up to the counter as we placed “the meal [he] cooked” onto his plate that he then carried to his table to sit and eat.

He was a kid I hadn’t seen in over a week. Yesterday, he made a liar out of me in front of my parents when he decided to eat 3 full adult-sized pancakes. I can’t lie. The mealtime woes have been extremely frustrating. Mainly because I know he’s hungry and has been refusing certain things. How much peanut butter and jelly can a kid really eat? And I’m tired of him eating those damn Little Bites chocolate chip muffins all the time—not to mention I actually ran out of them and forgot to get more. Just give me a break. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to hold it together today had mealtime failed yet again. As you can see, it didn’t! So let’s rejoice. I’m taking this small win as a big one! I’ve been EXHAUSTED, but this right here has reignited the flame. It served as a reminder that sometimes you have to switch it up and make stuff fun.

So hey mom, when you find yourself getting frustrated with something as routine as mealtime, remember to just switch it up and let them be hands on. You’ll get an empty plate and a happy little person with a full belly.