every so often i'll read an article—on line, in a magazine that i pick up somewhere—about parenting the 2-year old. most of them focus on "creative discipline", or "how not to live under the thumb of a 25-pound dictator".
one i read recently was about food issues, conquering the picky eater, how to get your kid to try new things, etc. it's thesis statement (hello, 10th grade english!) was that you shouldn't push too hard, but you shouldn't wuss out either. in practice, it said, this was carried out by always putting a little bit of what you want the kids to eat on their plate and asking them to try it. they can say no, but it has to stay on their plate.
here's how that plays out at my dining room table:
"mama, what that?"
"it's your rice and beans, and some zucchini and onions."
"i don't want keeny and onions."
"you've eaten it before and liked it, at nana's house. i'd like you to try it again. it's really yummy."
"take it off plate?"
"nope. you don't have to eat it if you don't want to, but just in case you change your mind, it's going to stay on the plate."
wile gets up from table, walks over to shelf, gets small bowl, and comes back.
"mama, not want that plate. want ricenbeans in this bowl."
(stephen's take on the situatuion was that we should be pleased, as it seems that, with his ability to spot loopholes and creative solutions, wile will have a bright future as a litigator.)
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5 comments:
i'm not chalking this one up to wile being a picky 2-yr old. you have to take into consideration who he came from. is it really a surprise that he prefers the foods that are unappealing to him to be on a separate plate??
xo
ant sar
ha. at least he knows what a zucchini is.
did you read dooce yesterday about toilet training/enemas? so scary!
btw, it's hard to read black font on blue. or maybe i'm just retarded. or maybe i've just spent too much time with powerpoint slides.
-fab
yeah, i've been thinking i need to make the blue lighter. and/or the fony larger---but i always have trouble finding the right size between kinda-too-small and whoa-that's-too-big.
i did read dooce yesterday, and it made any issues wile has seem totally insignificant.... enemas! no thank you!!
uh, that would be font. i don't know what a "fony" is....
I agree with the black/blue assessment. Lighter blue perhaps?
As for Wile - I'm going to go with the oldie but goodie "every cloud has a silver lining" ... at least your child politely got up, got a separate container and brought it back and asked nicely if he could have his food in there. Sure as hell beats the kid who throws the food he doesn't want on the floor or at you!! -m.
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