Makin' a sandwich

Getting Nikolai to eat dinner is like pulling teeth (help!).

The other night we didn't feel like fighting him on it, so Jesse said that if he took one bite of what we were having, he could make himself a pb&j and eat that instead. He leaped at the offer and while we were disappointed that he wasn't eating what we made, it was fun to see him be so independent (ok, he had some help, but still).



It reminded me of this picture of myself at about the same age, making a tuna sandwich on toast:


Comments

Anna said…
Don't make dinner time a fight. If he doesn't want to eat what you're eating then don't make him. Do you like eating things you don't like? (thinking about this question helps me with similar struggles with Wes) Also, don't jump through hoops. You set the limits. You can say, "If you don't eat what I made, you don't eat." or you can say, "You can choose this or pbj" or "You can choose this or toast" or whatever you want to do. But don't force him to eat.
November 1, 2015 at 8:59 PM
julis said…
Good advice! I'd say always offer, set the limit you're comfortable with (pbj is reasonable to me, but whatever makes sense to you), and decline to engage otherwise. You're good parents and it will all come out fine in the end!
November 1, 2015 at 10:22 PM
melissa said…
i love the sandwich making duo cuties. i make calvin make me (and himself and norah) toast sometimes, but i don't think he's ever made a sandwich. i need to teach him to cut cheese! (kidding/not kidding? hmmm maybe i will...)

sorry he is having a rough time eating. it will be fine, just listen to juli.
November 4, 2015 at 11:23 AM
Kylie said…
Cute! I love that picture of little Catherine! I wish Walt liked PB&J, how much easier would my life be? :) Conventional wisdom is to not force kids to eat, I think -- but for us, it isn't so much that Walt doesn't like the dinner as that he doesn't like to sit still for so long, and he gets distracted by other things. So I make his favorites for lunch, but dinner is what it is, and we do make him eat a reasonable amount of it. He doesn't get anything else. If there's something I know he really can't stomach I leave it off his plate if it's reasonable to do so...He's so skinny that I'm not really comfortable with just telling him he doesn't have to eat it. You just have to do whatever works for you and your family because every kid is different and there is seriously no right way!
November 7, 2015 at 5:57 PM
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