Gourmet Mealtime by the Slacrdad

I realize this is no surprise to many of you, but there are moments when I give in to my frustrations and act out. Often, I act no better than my four year old. Tonight was one of those nights. For dinner we all had bow tie noodles, beef tri-tip, peas and mushrooms in a creamy stroganoff-style sauce.

Now, I have the type of kids that rather than trying something new, they automatically start gagging and telling me how much they don't like whatever has been placed before them. I will admit it has gotten better. We have tried a few different approaches to this. First we said, if you don't like what is made for dinner, you can have PB&J. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, no matter, you complain once, you get PB&J. That lasted about a week.

Secondly, we tried to just accept their pickiness, and rather than complain about their disdain for my labor-intensive dish, just be prepared to make them something else, accepting that this is one of those battles that we do not have to win every time. That also lasted about a week. (Apparently every battle is one that I want to win)

I recognize that I am as responsible for their pickiness as anyone by catering to them this way, but all the same it is very frustrating.

So back to dinner tonight, #2 decides he doesn't like the sauce. Having already discussed with #1 and #3 their opinions of the meal, I was not in any mood to have a third distinct conversation. But he insisted. #2 doesn't like the sauce. Having just finished the plain spaghetti noodles for #3, I decided to take the lovely dish described above and put it in the strainer and wash off all the sauce that #2 found so revolting.

I thought my wife was going to puke right there at the dinner table. She could not believe what I had done. Her reaction sparked tears with #2, thinking that I had made a dish that he was certain could not get any worse, in fact more disgusting than it originally had been.

After he got over the tears, i simply told him, its this or nothing. My wife, seeing that I was not backing down, granted me a rare moment of control and decided to stay quiet. Just for all you out there who think I am a complete moron, I will say #2 actually liked the food better now that it was rinsed, and finished his plate.

If you're looking for a moral or the great parenting tip in this story, you've come to the wrong blog. Unless of course, it is that you stop trying to cook gourmet food (from a freezer bag), if your kids are picky eaters.

Comments

[Travis and Amber Wiser]

Sounds like dinner at our house! We had a friend tell us how they got super serious with their kids..."When you talk like that you are being rude to mom/dad-they put in a lot of hard work for the family-so you make one remark and you go straight to your bed-no dinner" We dialed it back a bit, but after one night of being super serious and setting the rules, it got WAY better.
Good luck!!