One afternoon, I visited the zoo with a woman from my church. She brought her two youngest children, and at snack time, offered one of them a cucumber. My eyes bulged out of my head as I saw a three-year-old biting at a cucumber like it was an ice cream cone. I looked back at the snacks I had brought for my two-year-old. A juice box and some fruit snacks. Then I looked back at the veggie-loving child with so many questions running through my head. What are you? How? From that moment, I decided I wanted to try to diversify what my daughter ate. Eventually. For now, the problem is more trying to get her to eat food at all.
Feeding a toddler has been
1. Food cannot mingle with other food.
2. Any fruit with fiber, must be rendered fiberless (no skins).
3. Food must be cut into small pieces or it will be chewed and then spit out.
4. Food must be consumed within 5 minutes or else too much playtime will be sacrificed.
5. Food cannot have any foreign spots on it like oregano, basil, or pepper.
6. Food must accompany 2 cups of sugary juice, lest the belly get too full of nutritious solids.
I could release a handbook - but you get the idea.
I was worried about my daughter's food habits so much, that I decided to keep a photo food diary of what she eats. At first, it was really discouraging. The before and after pictures were almost identical. Did she eat anything? Perhaps a couple noodles went missing, here and there. But as I continued the experiment, it gave me ideas on how to make food more appetizing and fun for my toddler. No, I will not make sushi shaped like pandas for my kid -I have my limits- but there are small things that I could do to help the anorexia subside.
1. Keep your expectations low.
2. Cut your food into fun shapes. Just look at those eggs? How can you keep your hands off them when they are cut like so.
3. Try to make the meal as colorful as possible, excluding the use of sprinkles and food coloring. A+ for creativity, though.
4. When serving something new (like these lonesome lentils), serve it along side something familiar lest the shock be too great.
5. Eat the same food as them, and as you do, gush about how tasty the fruit or veggie is. "Oh my! This is so delicious! It makes me happy I was born!" or something likewise. If this doesn't work, try talking up the food's magical abilities. "If you eat this, you'll grow tall like a tree. Do you want to grow tall like a tree?"
6. Even if they hate something, like corn apparently, keep trying. One day they might accidentally eat it.
7. Let your toddler self-feed as much as possible, or else meal time will be an uphill battle no matter how delicious the meal is. I've noticed finger foods are the first to go because they are easiest to eat.
8. Mix things up with a bowl or fun utensils. One time, my toddler was so interested in eating because I was serving her with a chopstick.
9. Cook with your toddler. Let them stir the pot, open the package, press buttons on the microwave. You may go as far as to let them choose what's for dinner. That's why we eat macaroni and cheese 2-3 times a week. Here, I attempted to make a smiley face out of the broccoli. I think this works better on pancakes.
10. She ate something! This happens 1 or 2 times a week, where she pretty much cleans her plate. Again, I'm keeping expectations low.
In the end, I think I found a middle ground of helping my toddler eat, but not pulling my hair out as I do it. Now to get her to eat a cucumber raw...
I know it seems like I am the expert of all things, but if you have any suggestions or comments, I'd love to hear.
Oh, and here is how to make panda-shaped sushi, in case I sparked any interest earlier:
http://www.bentomonsters.com/2015/10/panda-penguin-sushi.html
