Thursday, September 27, 2007

13 Things I Said To My Son When Trying To Get Him To Eat Dinner


As many of you may know, my 5-year-old son barely eats. I'm not quite sure how he gets enough nourishment to keep the gears running. These are a few things I said to him tonight when trying to get him to eat dinner (we had lemon herb chicken). This is a good representation of what I go through at just about every meal time.

1. Chicken is NOT yucky!

2. It will not make you throw up.

3. This is not a debate, Eli.

4. You can’t have a fruit roll up until you try the chicken.

5. I don’t understand what is so difficult about taking a bite of dinner.

6. You don’t have to eat the chicken if you choose something else that is healthy.

7. An ice cream cone is not healthy.

8. No, you can't have just the cone.

9. You need to eat something that doesn’t contain sugar.

10. I’m tired of having to force feed you every meal.

11. Your butt is not moving from that chair until you try your dinner!

12. Licking a piece doesn’t count.

13. I'm serving this to you tomorrow for breakfast.


16 comments:

Crazy Working Mom said...

How 'bout pushing it around to different areas of you plate just to make it look like you've ate more isn't going to work either!!

withthanksgiving said...

I always say i'm saving it for the next day. I know someone who did that twice to their kids and worked wonders for them. My son is sooo picky too. If it isn't chicken nuggets or sloppy joes.

maggie @ coffeeshopmafia.com

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

OMG, this was so hilarious and oh so true. I snorted at "licking it doesn't count"!! :)

Patois42 said...

I licked the last shu mai tonight at dinner so my oldest wouldn't eat it. He hate it anyway! Pig. It does turn the other way...eventually. (My oldest is 10.)

Nicholas said...

#1 is absolutely true.

Amazing Gracie said...

Oh, flashbacks! Absolute agony. My son actually fell asleep at the dinner table with his head in the plate. And yes, he had dinner for breakfast a couple of times. But even that didn't work. Stubborn little ____ (I can say that now - he's almost 40!) He'd sneak food into his bedroom and scrape it underneath his dresser. For weeks, we couldn't figure out where this odor was coming from...
Good luck, mom!!!

Tilly said...

Mini Mint is only 27 months, so there isn't much reasoning I can with him. At first I was really worried if he refused a meal, because when he was very young he was really underweight.

Now, if he doesn't eat a meal, I don't argue with him, I just take the meal away and don't let him have anything to eat until his next meal time, by which time he is usually starving.

I'm not sure that would work for a 5 year old though.

Good luck.

Tilly said...

Mini Mint is only 27 months, so there isn't much reasoning I can with him. At first I was really worried if he refused a meal, because when he was very young he was really underweight.

Now, if he doesn't eat a meal, I don't argue with him, I just take the meal away and don't let him have anything to eat until his next meal time, by which time he is usually starving.

I'm not sure that would work for a 5 year old though.

Good luck.

Mom not Mum (Sandy) said...

LOL I love #7 followed quicky by #8. My jordan will take the teensiest tiniest bite and say she tried it. LOL

Deb said...

I love this list! Some of them sound VERY familiar... :) The 'licking it doesn't count' is priceless.

My 4-year-old is my picky one - I've had to settle for her eating one GRAIN of rice if it's on her dinner plate... Last night I actually got her to eat 3 kernels of corn - woo hoo! LOL

Anonymous said...

UGh, what a pain. My kids are good eaters most of the time, so I don't have to bitch at meal time.

Just at other times!

Happy TT, and good luck with feeding that kid! lol

Believer in Balance said...

#13 is LOL funny! I've said a lot of those things myself! I wish they worked, but they don't!

DIXIECHICK said...

I swear...that was the exact conversation I had with Max, my four year old last night...It is exhausting trying to get him to eat, every night...it is the same battle. We had chicken last night as well...barely ate a thimble full. Within 15 minutes of clearing the table...he was ready for a "snack"..drives me batty! I have to make sure he takes a vitamin every day, because he doesn't eat enough to keep a bird alive.
Dixiechick

Lori said...

LMAO...Ive heard my sister have that same conversation with my niece. I never had to worry about that with my boys...they ate like little piglets..and they still do. Happy TT and thanks for the giggle.

Sandee said...

So, he still didn't eat it for breakfast and you're going to serve it to him again tonight? Have a great TT. :)

Krista said...

Great list! Sure you weren't at our table??
Happy T13!