Confessions of a Former Food Pusher (and Why You Shouldn’t Bribe a Kid to Eat Broccoli!)
June 6, 2012 | Posted by Stacy under Healthy eating at home |
Yesterday at my twins’ preschool drop-off, one of their schoolmates was in tears. “What’s wrong?” his teacher asked. “He wants to go to his grandma’s house today instead of coming to school,” his mom explained. “I told him he couldn’t go unless he ate his breakfast.” Looking down at her sobbing child, she added, “He wouldn’t even try a bite. All he has to do is eat his breakfast, and then I will take him to Grandma’s.”
I’m not being judgmental here, because I, too, have been guilty of food pushing. I used to cajole my kids to eat veggies or tell them that they could have dessert as soon as they finished their dinner—all in the interest of good nutrition, of course. Or so I thought until I wrote the article that changed the way I feed my kids for good.
I certainly don’t assume that people want to read everything that I write, but my story about parents’ biggest feeding mistakes (which appears in the current issue of Baby & Toddler magazine) was a game changer for me. So I am going to take a leap and share it. While it’s written for parents of young children, the same rules apply to school kids of all ages. I think the tips in the story could be helpful to parents as well as teachers and the cafeteria crew.
I’m happy to report that, since penning the piece last fall, mealtimes have gone much more smoothly in my house. I don’t know whether my kids are actually eating more healthfully, but I feel like I’m more relaxed about all of it, which makes for a more pleasant dining experience. Plus, it’s reassuring to know that I’m not longer pushing food and doing other things that could mess up their eating in the long run. Fingers crossed, anyway!
Click here to see the full article. Happy reading!
[…] lectured on the health benefits of broccoli. I pressured him to finish his peas. (READ: Confessions of a former food pusher (and why you should never bribe a kid to eat broccoli!). I meant well, but I was going about it the wrong way. Then, when his twin brother and sister […]
[…] I’m the first to admit that I’ve made some mistakes when it comes to my kids’ eating. Some big ones, actually. My 7-year-old likes to remind me of the time that I made him finish his peas before going out for ice cream. Did I really do that?!? Yes, sadly, I did. And now he refuses to eat peas or any vegetable, for that matter. And It. Is. Probably. All. My. Fault. (READ: Confessions of a Former Food Pusher). […]