“Mommy, can I please have the rest?” Those are words I never thought I would hear my daughter say.
When we first arrived in Canada, my youngest had not been eating solid food for too long. She was picky with what she would eat and would turn her nose up at things like beef, lettuce leaves and tofu. My other daughter would have her least favourites too thus making it difficult to cook food that they would both eat. I remember sitting at the table for long periods of time waiting for my girls to finish their meal. We began cooking favourites: broccoli, fried rice, noodles, lentils, macaroni cheese. We encouraged them to try stir fried green vegetables, pumpkin, tomato, and cauliflower. We were not always successful.
Now that they have reached their teens, my daughters have become much better eaters. My youngest, who was such a picky eater, will fill herself up with her favourite foods. They now look forward to eating their meals and often make requests for their favourites. And when I hear “Mommy, can I have the rest?” I smile and invite her to empty the pot.
If you have missed any of my Migrating North posts, head on over here.
© Colline Kook-Chun, 2014
(This post was written for the FMF 31 day challenge hosted by Kate Motaung. Today’s prompt is: rest)
The funniest thing about my children becoming adults is hearing them nonchalantly say things like ‘I love green beans, please pass some more’ and piling them onto the plate when for years they were picked out with disdain and piled at the side of the plate.
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Your example makes me smile as that is exactly what is happening at our dining table 🙂
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It’s always good when our children have a healthy appetite. Nice to know that broccoli is a favourite. I love it too, but hubby hates it. 🙂
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If we do not have it a few times a week, we get complaints 🙂
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My eldest was fantastic, she would eat the most amazing things, olives, salami, that sort of thing, things children would normally eat, so feeding her has never really been a problem, but the youngest, she was a nightmare, we had to sneak vegetables into things like spaghetti, so she wouldn’t know she was eating them. If it looked healthy she wouldn’t eat it, if it was crap food she would love it. Even when she started eating she didn’t like vegetables, I used to have to make her baby curries to get her to eat them. So glad she is much better now, still not great, but better. Glad it has happened for your daughters as well.
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Me too. It helps especially when you go and eat at other people. They are still not too keen on salads though.
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one of the most important part of your topic!!
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Thank you Mihrank. It is one of the things that shows me how much my children have grown since we have arrived here.
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I liked reading your post today Colline. So many memories of my kids growing up and the food they preferred (or didn’t!) Here is a recent NY Times article by Mark Bittman on Getting Your Kids to Eat (or at least try) Everything
If you haven’t seen it, you might enjoy checking it out. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/12/magazine/getting-your-kids-to-eat-or-at-least-try-everything.html?_r=0
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Interesting article Ruth and thanks for sharing. I enjoy Mark Bittman’s recipes – one of his books graces my shelf 🙂
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I am also happy when my children eat more healthy 🙂 Sweet post Colline ❤
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The best is when they come back from an overnight school trip and they ask for veggies 🙂
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Children certainly are picky eaters, and today unfortunately too many adults are giving in to the fast food fad to save time on cooking and trying to give the best to their children.
Some children do carry certain aversions into their adult life, Broccoli seems to be one of the foods kids dont have a liking for.
Emu
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Surprisingly broccoli is one of my children’s favourites. If we don’t cook it often enough, it becomes a request for the next meal 🙂
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