Look Out I'm Parenting Here! Getting Through The Day Chapter 8: Perfecting the Magic Act Of Dinner

Look Out I'm Parenting Here! Getting Through The Day Chapter 8: Perfecting the Magic Act Of Dinner
Full episode of "Perfecting the magic act of dinner"

Understand Their Palate

I can remember making my parents mad when they worked sometimes hours to prepare a meal, and I would not touch it. I was too interested in cereal, bread, pasta, and other sugary/carb heavy foods. If you tried to bring any fresh vegetables, I would not have any of it! This has to be understood though, children are going to have a way different palate than adults. Think about it like this, as Ted states, there is a reason that baby food tastes bland. These companies have perfected the art of getting return customers, that's probably why they are still in business right? So does this mean only feed them the foods they like? NO! However, there is a certain way to go about introducing new foods to them. It comes down to understanding that certain foods are going to "shock" their taste buds. So when making an introduction, doing it in small portions and as slowly as possibly will win out in the end.

Looks tasty

Present in small portions

"It is important to set small but steadily increasing milestones for your toddler." echoes Ted. The goal should be to have your child try many different kinds of foods. This will get them used to not eating the same thing all the time. As we stated earlier, try introducing new foods, but one small bite at a time. So fix them up a fan favorite like rice, but then mix in a bite of your kale every so often. Even though they may hate the kale, they will have that larger portion of rice there to quickly take their mind off that green menace. So much of good health I believe starts with diet, so it is your responsibility to get your kids started on the right foot

Patience and persistence

"The reason I bring this up when speaking about eating is that you should expect a lot of failure in this arena." says Ted. Isn't this the bittersweet truth about being a parent? I can speak from the toddler perspective, I never appreciated what my parents tried to do for me at a young age until right around the age I am today. All the times I cringed when having to eat broccoli, or eat my salad before eating my pizza, or skipping soda for some high quality H2O. In the end, they were right, and I respected how persistent they were in trying to forge a better life for me. One thing that we talked about back in "Teddy's Tips" is that you will have to get used to not being appreciated as a parent, and a lot of times being hated. Congratulations, this is the job you signed up for! It does not mean stop doing what you are doing and allowing soda, or always ordering McDonald's, you stay true to your path being pleasantly persistent. In the end, your determination will make the difference.