Feeding our Families

Let’s talk about feeding our families.  I want to make it perfectly clear that this is something that challenges me at home too. I have an almost 10 year old and an 8 year old with autism and they both have their opinions about what we should be eating. But here is my rule; it is my job as the parent to decide what we are eating, when we eat and where we eat it. It is the kids' responsibility to decide how much they are going to eat. This is called the division of food responsibilities and I challenge you to respect the division.

 This doesn't mean that I will make a dinner with nothing my kids like in the name of health. I make sure that there is one thing that everyone likes. That way they have a fall back food if they absolutely don't like the challenge foods but they are expected to try everything on their plate.

 OK Moms are you getting this?  You are not a short order cook. You do not need to make different things for each member of your family. As parents, we get to decide what is best for our kids. Why would we give that responsibility over to our children when it comes to food? It is our job to expose them to all the different tastes and textures that food has to offer. They will not like everything and that is OK. Just make sure that there is at least one thing on their plate that you know that they do like. Remember that it could take up to 40 tastes of a food before we actually know if we like it or and even then, we have new tastes buds every 2 weeks and food will continually taste different. This is especially true when you decide to dump all the processed sugar from your diet - you will be amazed at how different foods tastes.

 One of the best ways that I have found to get our kiddos to try new foods is to let them help in the preparation. I know it will make the process take longer but I am always so amazed by how much more willing they are to eat it.  Letting our kids help us in the kitchen, not only promotes healthy eating now but it gives them a life-long skill that they need to make it on their own. Teaching our kids to cook should rank with teaching them to make their bed or clean their room.

 Teaching our kids healthy food habits starts with how we, as parents, treat food.  Food should not be used as a bargaining chip nor should we complain about it.  Food is for nourishment.  Remember the division of food responsibilities and that you are responsible to determine what is served at meals and when and where they are served.  We must leave it up to our children to decide how much they will eat.  This is the best way to teach our kids to listen to their satiety cues.  It also gives us the opportunity to show them what healthy food looks like at regular mealtimes.  The table should be a place to enjoy family and food – use this division to help make that possible