A Minor Miracle!

by Amy


When Savannah was 3 or 4 years old, she did not like to eat broccoli. So, Brad and I would make sure we didn't have company over when I served broccoli. The rule was - she had to eat the one or two pieces I put on her plate. She wasn't allowed to be excused from the table until she did. This rule worked well... There were several instances where she cried a bit and ended up spending an hour at the table, but she would get it down. Now Savannah likes broccoli.

When Peter and Alex started eating solid foods, we implemented the same rule. But Peter would often sit at the table for 2+ hours. Actually he often sat there until bedtime. Then, I'd put the same food in front of him for lunch the next day. If he didn't eat it, he wouldn't get anything else. That usually worked. Only once did I have to reheat the previous day's food it for lunch and dinner on that second day. Then, Peter added a new element to the "game." He would often put the food in his mouth, but not swallow it. I remember him sitting in his high chair for 2 hours with a Mandarin orange in his mouth! (Do you remember that Dan Brown?) It was crazy! We tried everything we could, but there's no way to physically force a kid to swallow. (You can bend his legs and force him to sit, but we couldn't figure out how to make him swallow.) I remember one day we were at a party and I gave Pedo an oreo. About 45 min later he was running around playing with that oreo still in his mouth! He didn't want to swallow it!

Well, when we moved here, we decided to change the rules a bit.... We figured all of the food would seem strange, so we weren't going to make him eat it for dinner if he didn't eat it for lunch. (We eat local food for lunch and western food for dinner.) But, he had to swallow what he put in his mouth or get disciplined if he had to spit it out before nap time. Then, he wasn't allowed to have an afternoon snack, if one was provided..

Well, one of my favorite veggies is broccoli. So, at dinner I often will steam broccoli and melt a little cheese on top -- mmmmm!! Peter, of course, wouldn't eat it (or swallow when we made him take a bite). So, I would often plan to have broccoli on dessert night so he'd have a high incentive to eat it. Well, I'm happy to report that now my son likes broccoli! Tonight Peter came into the kitchen to watch me make dinner. When he saw the broccoli and rice in the soup I was making his said, "Mmmm! Mama, that broccoli looks good!" The he was the first one to finish his serving of soup!

So, all you mom's out there! Don't give up the food battle! If I Pedo will eat broccoli I'm sure your kid will too! It may just take 3+ years of persistence!