I have a confession to make. Lately I am having a REALLY hard time getting my daughter to eat her veggies. There. I said it. I can exhale now. How did we get from her being a baby who gorged on veggies (I couldn’t stop her), to a six year old who throws a tantrum every night about eating said vegetables???
This new found phase she is exhibiting has been making me feel like a phony; If I am having such a hard time convincing my daughter to eat her greens, who am I to be telling you how to make your children eat their greens?
Bottom line, I have a stubborn daughter (It takes one to know one). I often hear a story from my dad about how he had a battle of wills over veggies with one of his daughters (wonder who that was?). Apparently I was told that I couldn’t leave the table until I finished my veggies and I didn’t cave in and eat them until almost 2am (trust me, I take the word “stubborn” to new highs). Fortunately I also have an older son, so I know from experience that she is going through a phase. We will get through this and she will come out the other side a vegetable lover just as my son did and just as I did.
In the meantime we have a new rule in our household when it comes to little miss veggie hater; she must eat her serving of vegetables before she is served the rest of her dinner. It may seem harsh, but I am tired of ending our meals with veggie tantrums…better to have them at the beginning of the meal and leave the table happy. We are on day three of this new system and while there has definitely been resistance (that’s a polite way of saying kicking and screaming), the fight is a little less every day.
Unlucky for her the Gods gave her a mama that just so happens to be even more stubborn than her.
We will get through this. Eating veggies is just that important.
UPDATE – The tantrums are over! She has been eating her veggies and even likes to eat romaine salad right now. I am not saying the war is won or that she is thrilled to be eating her greens, but the trick of eating her veggies before the rest of the meal seems to be working!!!