In what seems to be a futile attempt to sway Baeleigh into eating more healthful foods, Baeleigh displays above one of her infamous faces when deciding that she doesn't like something. For the past month or two, Tommy and I have tried to concentrate efforts to introduce more veggies and homecooked meals to Baeleigh. Until now, we have relied heavily upon PB&Js, lunch meats, cheese, yogurt, Chef Boyardee, etc. And, although some of this is OK in moderation, we've decided it's time that Baeleigh eats what we eat. At first read, this probably sounds like we're just plain lazy, but it is actually quite difficult to have a child eat what an adult eats. You try selling salmon with lemon and capers to a 4 year old. Baeleigh also has a quite different dinner schedule than Tommy and I have. This is the crux of the reason why she tends to eat her own separate meal, and more than likely with "G" (Tommy's mom).
Don't get me wrong, G is fantastic. She has helped us out tremendously with picking Baeleigh up after daycare since Tommy and I both work later schedules making it difficult to pick up by 6pm. But, G is also a "grandparent" - you know the ones that like to spoil your kid rotten, fill them up with candy and them sending them back home to you. G's also not so fond of my organic or at least minimally processed and low-fat philosophy for our family. She's certainly come around in the last few years but we're definitely still predominantly Lunchables, Meals-to-Go, and Hi-C drink laden. At least the McDonald's visits have been considerably reduced.
I've tried to start things off easy with Baeleigh (e.g. some carrots - like TWO baby carrots cut up) and mostly milk or water with meals, but she practically folds down epileptic on the floor on me. We've had several pick-ups from daycare now where the first thing out of her mouth is, "Mommy, am I eating carrots for dinner?...because I don't like carrots" and it continues pretty much the whole car ride home. She squirms as I cook them, winces when I set them on the table, gags as she places a small bite in her mouth until she melts down into tears, head on the table. It's a freakin' carrot, already!! I tried some Hamburger Helper Enchilada and a spoonful of corn last night. Surprise, she chooses the option of going to bed over eating ANY of it. So, here I am, being beaten by a 4 year old with our daily food fight. With her happily retiring to bed in lieu of eating what's for dinner, what's a mommy to do? I'm practically ready to pull my hair out. So, today, the lunch special was once again....dinner from last night. I figure the kid's gotta get hungry enough eventually, right? I feel like such a mean mommy, but I think it's the only way I'm gonna break her. So, today, mommy 1, Baeleigh 0. She ate it, begrudgingly and slooooooooowly, but she ate it. As a treat, she got strawberries.
Next step is convincing G to no longer feed her dinner. Or at least me trying to make something more healthful that she can heat up in the event that dinner's pushing past 7:30pm. So, that's my plan of attack. Pray for me!!
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