A Parental Confession: Dinner Time

Note: This post has nothing to do about coupons or saving money.  Instead it is about saving my sanity!

When I think of meal times at my house anxiety builds.  I am the first to admit that I do not like cooking.  Our self-imposed dietary restrictions are the main culprit.  I don’t eat beef.  My husband doesn’t eat anything with tomatoes or white sauces.  My daughters are 2.5 and 4 and their list of  foods that they like changes by the minute.  Add to this the whining of my girls during dinner and it is amazing that I am able to prepare anything for any meal of the day.

A typical dinner at my house consists of my girls asking 184,977,288,100,193 times “How many more bites?”  OK, so that number may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not by much.  I get grumpy every time I am asked that question.  No matter how I answer, it is not good enough for my 2.5-year-old.  My frustration builds and I start using words like “fine” and “I don’t care.”  Those aren’t the best parenting words, especially when it comes to nutrition and eating.

Like with the whining at my house, I knew something needed to be done.  And quickly.

My brilliant idea has been put to the test one night – and so far has a 100% success rate.  Prior to tonight I scooped too much food on to my girls plates.  They learned early on that they only had to eat a few bites of this and that and then ask to be done with dinner.  Their success depended on something that was arbitrary and invisible to them.

Tonight I made their portion sizes exactly what they should be (aka – quite a bit smaller).  The girls actually cried that they didn’t have enough on their plates for a change.  Not once did I hear “How many bites do I have to taaaaake?”  Instead I heard, “Mommy, can I have more?” and “I am so pwoud of myself.  I ated all my dinner.”  What a difference.  As I sat with my girls I didn’t dread dinner tonight.  I enjoyed how excited they were to meet their visible goal.

As parents it we are constantly faced with things that need revision.  It seems impossible to make changes at times.  We  need to realize that our actions affect our children’s moods and actions.  What can we do to make our lives a better place?  Sometimes all it takes is a reflective overview of what is occurring.