Foodies

All the advice out there says that you shouldn't try and force your kids to eat. That it will only backfire. Just serve them dinner and let them choose what to eat or not. Yeah, whatever. We spend way too much money on fruits and veggies to have them sit on a plate untasted. I think there is a way to get a child to eat new foods without damaging them for life. It is called bribery.

In the past two days, Big Boy has eaten tomatoes, lettuce, a hamburger with all the trimmings, asparagus, and raw broccoli because my husband bribed him with a trip to the movies for eating his veggies. At first I thought this was a bad idea, but then I thought about it. I didn't eat tomatoes until I was 25. Seriously. I avoided tomatoes at all cost. There was no particular reason except I had at some point in my youth made up my mind that I didn't like them.

One day I sat down with a container of grape tomatoes and I ate every single one. By the time I was done, I liked tomatoes. I don't want my kids to miss out on foods just because they are stubborn like me, make up their minds when they are two that they don't like a particular food, and must stick with that decision forever in order not to lose face.

So maybe this whole extrinsic motivation thing will have dire consequences on Big Boy, but I think he will be fine. I hope that he will be far more open to trying new foods than I was. I don't want him to miss out like I did. Now if only I could get over my aversion to onions!