Food Fights

I don't know about other parents out there but I really struggle with food. I despise meal time at our house. It's down right draining. As soon as one meal is done, another is looming and then there's the dishes and the food bubble. Yes, the food bubble. About a 3 foot radius around each kid where stepping is not advised and any starving child could possibly consider it a buffet. Man I miss our dog.

But a lot of the problem is that the boys don't like the same things and none of them like to eat what I eat. And then there's Wes who also doesn't like to eat what I eat or what the boys eat so basically meal times SUCK. So annoying!

I know a lot of it is me and my eating issues of the past (ok ok, I still have some) but the idea of anyone making me eat something I don't want to REALLY bothers me. And so I have a very tough time forcing my kids to eat something they don't want to. I once read something somewhere that said "Make Dinner, Not War" and that's pretty much how I roll. It's not worth the battle or the stress. Food has always been a point of stress for me and the last thing I want is for it to be the same for my kids.

Don't get me wrong, I still push fruits and vegies and healthy eating but I definitely cater to their wants as well. I have friends who make their kids eat what's cooked or go hungry and I just CAN NOT do that. I can't! Absolutely no way. The idea of my child being hungry stresses me out more than having to cook multiple things.

The other problem is that I am a snacker. I like to eat little amounts all the time and my kids are no different. They LOVE their snacks. Things even taste better if I call it a "snack" instead of "lunch" or "dinner." Who knew?! So basically my 3 time a day meal battle is in all actuality an all day drag-out fight. (Please refer to the sections on: "Cons to Being a SAHM" and "How Many Granola Bars Can One Boy Eat In A Day")

I know I should probably put them on a schedule, but hell, I want to eat when I'm hungry, not when someone tells me it's time so why should I make it any different for them. Kind of goes back to the newborn breast feeding phase of "on demand feeding." Feed when hungry. It's that simple. Same goes for my boys.

Oh, and the mere thought of forcing them to finish everything on their plate makes me cringe. And people wonder why America has a weight problem. Geeze!! Really folks? Come on. It would be different if the boys were older but they don't know to eat when bored or sad or while watching 'The Biggest Loser'. They are kids and they eat when they are hungry. Simple as that.

But back to the foods themselves. For example, tonight I asked Bo & Sam each what we should have for dinner. Here's what they had to say:

Bo: "muffins, pancakes, mac-n-cheese"
Sam: "bacon, hotdogs, chicken"

They couldn't be more opposite. So I compromised. (And no, I don't usually ask them what they want but it's Friday). We had blueberry muffins hold the blueberries add grated carrots (anything to help me feel better about the retarded meal I was preparing), macaroni-n-cheese, turkey bacon, & green beans (MY addition).

Here's how it went down. Bo ate 2 muffins, half his mac-n-cheese and one green bean.
Sam ate 2 slices of turkey bacon, 1 muffin, half his mac-n-cheese, and 2 green beans. Max mushed his muffin (que food bubble music), ate all of his green beans, half a slice of bacon and stole all the tomatoes off my salad.

But you know what, they were excited about dinner and all sat at the table like civilized little boys, minus the few minutes when Sam decided to do a Cirque de Soleil routine on his chair and Max crawled across the table to get Bo's iTouch, but that's neither here nor there. We had a very nice dinner with very nice toddler conversation and very nice green bean mustaches.

I consider myself victorious but better quit blogging and go rest up. Breakfast is only 8 hours away.