What I Have Learned: Picky Eaters

No, I am NOT an expert.

BUT - I can tell you what I have learned

as the mom of 4 kids...

What works 

and 

what doesn't work...

for our family!

Yes, we are all different.

BUT - 

I am hoping that some of my

trials and tribulations

might help encourage 

others as they

continue along this

journey of motherhood

Picky Eaters

First and foremost,

I have been BLESSED with 

relatively good eaters...

however,

I am CERTAIN 

they were not 

born this way 

and that what we did as parents

had 

at least a little to do with it.

All 4 of mine were nursed until they quit.

R was 10 1/2 months

J was about 9 months

A was 11 1/2 months 

T was 14 months.

We started ALL of them on the typical rice cereal.

In my opinion,

this is not necessary,

you can start with food instead.

I have always been VERY picky about what they eat.

And I wanted to give them what I considered was the

"best" start.

So I researched,

just like we do everything else.

I saw a suggestion that had you feeding 

sweet potatoes as their "first food".

Why?

Because it was a happy medium between 

veggies and fruit.

It is a sweet veggie...

Hmmm...well that is an interesting idea.

So we did

with all 4.

Then we moved on to other veggies

and then finally to the fruits.

I honestly feel that because of this,

all of mine have been good veggie eaters.

Once they were passed the "stage 1" stage,

I started making my own baby food.

However, there were certain ones I only did once!

Peas:  because I was not about to strain them each time

to get rid of the skins

Green Beans:  I could never get them strained enough either

Bananas:  I was concerned about browning,

but totally could have done these too.

Which ones I did do:

Pumpkin

Butternut squash

Carrots

Sweet Potatoes

Peaches

And a couple of others, but that's all I can come up 

with right now.

Then later on (around 10 months of age or so)

I started turning these items into foods that 

they could pick up and self feed.

So be aware of what kind of "tastes" you are starting them with.

Fast forward 7 years or so

and I am faced with my first

"picky eater".

She came into this world at 8 lbs 1 oz

but didn't gain back to her birth weight at 

her 2 week check up,

so the insistence by all around me began

to put her on forumla!

Finally I had one doctor who took the time

to talk to me and look at her chart and say

"well, she is just a light weight"

as opposed to my two 95% bruiser boys

that had come before her.

So we powered on.

Then 2 weeks before she turned 1

she bit me...

I thumped her on the chin

and

she went COLD TURKEY!

I should have known then 

that I was in TROUBLE!

She was still a pretty decent eater.

Never gained a lot

She is 30 lbs at 3 1/2

her baby brother weighs almost as much as she does.

And at the age of 3

the food battles began!

I had never experienced such a thing,

so it was foreign to me.

I asked the doctor we were seeing at the time,

he suggested that I speak to a woman

who specializes in 

dealing with picky eaters.

She had a lot of great advise,

some we were already doing,

some I was not willing to implement

and 

some we did implement!

What we already did:

* Eat as a family!

*Offer healthy options for dinner.

* Be creative and don't get stuck in a "dinner rut".

*Offer a variety of foods.

*Don't dangle dessert as a reward for eating dinner

(ok with us, we rarely have dessert anyways)

Some of her other suggestions:

Eat family style

we kinda already did this, by putting all the food on the table

Allow then to serve themselves

we were doing what every parent does

and serving our kids before we served ourselves.

she suggested that we let them serve their own plates.

What?  You want me to let my 3 yo serve her own plate??

Yes!  Since you already have healthy, acceptable options on the table, why not?

She wasn't as concerned about a balanced diet.

What she was concerned about was allowing them 

SOME control.

Think about it...

as children,

WHAT do they have control over in their little lives?

What goes into and comes out of their bodies...

that is it!

Other than that, we as parents basically control

every other aspect of their little lives.

So let them have this control.

Let them control what goes into their little bodies...

if you are offering healthy options,

why not?

Well, for me, I didn't want my daughter thinking that 

eating just noodles or rice for dinner was ok.

I insisted on getting that proverbial

"veggie" in.

Along this same lines she said 

DON'T serve your picky eater.

Serve yourself first.

Then allow her to see you eat

and tell you what she would like.

Hmmmm....ok, I can do that.

Ya know what - it worked!!!

Now we ask her what she wants

and allow her to have some say.

Well, letting her *think* she has some say...

(I actually suggested this to a friend

and she quickly reported back that it was working

for their family too!)

Don't force them to eat.

Really?  So just let them be hungry?

Yes!  Allow them to understand what "that" feeling is.

Hmmmm...not so sure about this one.

But we do let them know that

"This is their dinner, they can eat it or not, it is 

their choice, but they WILL be hungry

and there WILL be no snacks after dinner"

This works really well for the older kids

But you have to mean it too!

No empty threats!!!

Allow them to go to bed hungry

Excuse me? You want me to allow my already tiny

3 yo to go to bed hungry?

Don't force her to eat her dinner and allow her 

to go to bed hungry?

Again - not so sure about this one.

We accidentally did it ONE night.

She was being unusually difficult

at dinner one night.

So instead of forcing her to eat

and 

instead of allowing her to sit at the 

table and cry and make the rest of us miserable

I sent her to her room until she quit crying

and was ready to join us with a happy face at the dinner table.

About 15 minutes later,

I decided to go check on her...

YEP,

she was OUT COLD!

I did NOT wake her to force feed her.

No way man!

So yes, we did send her to bed one night hungry,

sorta.

She has been sent to her room since then 

for the same reason,

but she hasn't made it past the bottom step

before she was drying her tears

and joining us back at the dinner table

(but its been a while since this has happened now).

Set & Stick to Meal/Snack Times

don't allow in between snacking

it will

wait for it...

yep, just like your mom

and

your grandma

and 

your great grandma said...

IT WILL RUIN THEIR DINNER!

They will no longer be hungry and will choose not to eat.

Then 10 minutes after dinner is over,

they are hungry.

And in order not to create a BIG problem,

you don't feed them.

because dinner is over!

And they go to bed hungry

(which is ultimately your fault, cause

you gave them a snack WHILE you were cooking dinner
just to hush them up)

But if you gave them a snack,

while you were cooking dinner,

you would probably give them a snack

after dinner

and 

you wouldn't be fixing the picky eater

you would be ENABLING it!

So don't...

enable.

But - at the same time,

you know your kid better than anyone.

So if there is a bigger issue - 

see a doctor.

I talked to one mom whose child

was mildly special needs

and he would not eat if she didn't insist!

At the age of 8,

he had never informed her that he was actually

hungry...

So good luck.

Provide healthy foods

(McD's hamburgers and chicken nuggets

DON'T COUNT!)

What if they don't eat veggies or fruits?

Well, if that is all they are offered...

they will eventually eat it!

Remove the chicken nuggets & hamburgers.

Provide lean meats,

roasted veggies,

salads...

They will surprise you!

Our favorite veggies in this house:

roasted green beans (recipe below)

salad (mixed field greens, spinach & iceberg)

roasted broccoli & cauliflower

tomatoes

ANY and ALL fruit

Our Favorite Roasted Green Beans

whole green beans (fresh or frozen)

olive oil

thyme

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 425°.

Pour whole green beans onto cookie sheet.

Drizzle lightly (don't drench) with olive oil 

sprinkle with thyme, salt & pepper

Mix to coat beans evenly.

Then spread beans out in a single layer on cookie sheet.

Bake for about 15 min turning about ever 5 minutes.

Keep an eye on them,

they should be starting to brown and crisp up a bit.

If they appear to be "steamed" beans,

they aren't done...

keep cooking and checking.

Also follow your nose.  

You should start to smell them 

when they are getting close to being done.

We have done asparagus, brussel sprouts, 

cauliflower & broccoli all like this 

and they are ALL a hit.

The baby devours these beans!!

Let me know what you think!!

Simplifying

Life has gotten way too complicated
and
way too busy!

I don't feel like I have time to do
ANYTHING
because I am too busy trying to do
EVERYTHING!
So
NOTHING
gets done well!

So I am trying to take a step back
and simplify.

(thanks to a kick in the pants by
 my baby sis over at
live to love)

We started a chore chart
and
have implemented a few
"kings"
in this house.

The chore chart is simple
and hanging on our fridge.

We are not implementing a reward system
for chores at this time...
I am not too keen on the
"paying them for doing things that NEED doing"
type of person.

If I pay them to make their bed
and
clean up after themselves...
will I wind up paying them to
do their school work next?

I think not.

So for now,
we are trying to work on the
"I am happy to live in a clean home
and
be apart of this family"
reason for doing chores.
And just because
SOMEONE
has to do them.

We spent a lot of time
purging the garage
and going through
more stuff we shipped out here
that I didn't have a chance to go
through before we moved.

We are finally getting rid of
the stroller/carseat set
that EACH of my kids
were brought home in...

I am ok now,
let's see how I am when I see it being
loaded up and taken away!
OY!

I have also spent a bit of time in thought
as to
"what I want this blog to be".

I got really excited at all the
neat products that some of these other
bloggers get to review!

I was so excited and thought
"I can do that!!"

So I have been working on it for a couple of months.

Then after the little episode with
that "other" blog...

I have really just taken a step back
to figure out what I wanted.

I am going to keep it as simple as possible...

I don't want my blog to turn into
something I have to do...
I want it to be something I want to do!

I am also trying to find a little bit more time for me.

Although,
I have no idea where I am going to find that time...
or figure out what to do with it
but I am gonna try!

I will keep you posted on what I find to do with
my "me" time.

Science Class - The Eye

Sometimes I really surprise myself...

we are getting the hang of somewhat

of a schedule around here.

Sort of...

We are doing well with a few subjects

others are lacking.

R is doing well with

language

math

religion

reading & comp

handwriting

J is doing well with

language

phonics

reading

math

handwriting

We haven't worked religion into

J's workload yet...

Science and History and Geography...

we do when I work them in.

We started reading out of 3rd grade

science book we have.

I decided to teach both boys science at the same time.

They will each get something out of it.

Theoretically, R will get more out of it than J will,

but, they should both get SOMETHING out of it.

We started reading about senses,

sense organs,

nerves...

Then we moved into the sense organs.

Eyes being first...

We were reading about a few parts of the eye:

pupil

iris

And the book was describing the purpose of the 

iris is not only just for color,

but to control the light entering the pupil.

So I thought about ways to help show 

the boys about this concept.

So out came the flashlight...
And explicit instructions that this is NOT

a game...

just instructional time with mommy.

But first I had them check out 

each other's irises

and 

eye color.

 I let the boys shine the flashlight

briefly in my eyes 

then move it

to watch the irises/pupils

change size...

(check out the big ole finger in this pic) 

 Then we used their little sister's 

Hello Kitty hand held compact mirror

to look at their eyes

and draw and label it!

I was impressed with J's ability to keep up with this.

He did VERY well,

and he labeled the parts well too!!

Tot School

I have been trying to come up with new

manipulatives for the littles.

I love all the neat stuff out there,

but can't bring myself to spend the money.

So I am trying to get creative,

using stuff we have already...

I came up with an idea

that

Mr. T

and 

Ms. Priss 

both LOVE!!

Can you tell what this is??

A parmesan cheese shaker container

and

various sized plastic lids

(juice, milk, water, etc)

They LOVE this!!

Mr. T loves putting the lids in the container.

Ms. Priss loves sorting them.

They shock me how often they both 

go to get this "toy"

out of their "school" bin!

Cost:  $0

I need some more ideas for my littles,

to keep them busy

and

entertained

while I am working with the 

older kids.

How do you entertain your littles

while you are schooling the older ones?

Library

What have we been up to?

Where have we been lately?

Going CRAZY!!

You guys have been neglected

and 

for that

I am sorry!

So be prepared for some updates

coming your way!!

Library

A few weeks ago,

we hoofed it across town to a new library

that had been highly recommended.

We happened to go on their 

"End of Summer Book Celebration"

party day.

So the kids got to go around and make some 

crafts to go with some of the books 

the library staff had chosen.

We made some 

glasses...

But Mr. T refused to put them on,

so this is as close as I could get.

This tree is out behind the library...

The boys are in or under that tree somewhere.

We didn't come home with any books.

I was disappointed,

but I think I need to take them

separately.

All 4 of them at the library at once,

forget it!!

Why Do We Homeschool???

There is really not just one answer to this one.

It has stemmed from quite a few things

over quite a few years...

5 years ago,

when taking my oldest to his 3 yo preschool

class,

I met a mom who homeschooled.

My comment:

"Oh I could never do that!"

Fast forward a few years,

life happened

and we had pulled R out of preschool.

So instead of going to 4 yo preschool class

he was at home with me.

The hubs and I started to talk about it.

And ultimately,

we knew he would get a better education

(what kid would not thrive with a private tutor?)

and

we wanted our values and our family

to be his main influences...

not his peers at school.

We had already discovered that

we weren't like most other parents

our age

or 

with kids our kids ages.

We were a little more 

"old fashioned".

So we were getting geared up to homeschool 

him for Kindergarten.

Then, 

again, 

life happened...

and off to school he went!

I squashed the homeschooling thought.

And we sent his brother to school 

with him 2 years later.

If it ain't broke...

don't fix it.

He was fine,

they were fine.

Then we decided to make the move out here to 

Te-has.

And when my sister and mom took the kids for

ice cream while I packed,

my sister asked if my oldest was going to miss his friends.

He had been with the same kids for over 2 years.

He said

"Not really".

My sis relayed this to me later

and I was honestly shocked!

And puzzled...

So we moved out here.

We were in year round school up in NC.

We moved in mid-October,

so the kids had already been in school

well over 9 weeks.

We started the second week of July,

had a 3 week break, 

then went back and were due for another break

in early November.

When we moved,

school had already started down here

and I chose to keep them out for a few weeks.

We were going to explore this new town of ours.

Then a week or so in,

the kids were getting aggravating

so I told them if they didn't calm their tails down

I was sending them to school!

We don't do empty threats in this house,

so since I hadn't signed them up yet

at the local school,

we immediately drove down to the school.

Right then!

(Can't very well send them,

if they aren't registered!

So I had to make sure I could

make good on that threat!)

I unloaded all 4 kids

and marched those boys right into the office.

"I am here to get the paperwork to register my boys please"

PS Lady:  "Ok, would you like to fill it out here"

Me:  "No thanks, I will take it home and do it 

when I am ready to send them in"

Then it started...

she pulled out every excuse,

every reason,

every trick,

every threat

she could think of to get me to register them

right then and there!

I was flabberghasted,

irritated,

shocked

and

ultimately disappointed.

So I took the paperwork

and went home 

and 

the hubs 

and I 

talked some.

I laid in bed that night,

after getting the grilling from the entire

front office staff at the public school,

telling me why I

HAD

to enroll my kids that DAY!

And it was as if God took that 

opportunity to smack me upside the head

and say

"Here ya go!"

I wanted to jump out of bed right then 

and 

there

and 

go research.

I did not, 

I suppressed it.

But jumped on it first thing

the next morning.

Then I started working on the hubs.

And he agreed to let me give it a shot.

Previously we had considered me getting my teaching 

certificate so that I could teach once they were all in school and 

have the same schedule as the kids.

Buy why would I go and get my certificate

to teach other people's kids,

when I could just stay home and teach my OWN kids?!?!

So here we are 

Almost 1 year later

and 

both boys enjoy it

I enjoy it...

And you know what,

I like these little people.

And more than anything,

I do not want to look back on our life

on our family

and say

"I wish we could have/would have

spent more time together.

We get ONE shot at this!

They grow up SO fast!
And I don't want to miss a thing!

I adore these little people

and

am SO thankful

I decided to dedicate my life to 

them.

I know this is my calling...

Wife

and

Mom!

Ramblings From The Shower - WINNER!!!

Yeah!

I have my first giveaway winner!!
Using Random.org

I got
Lucky #3!!!

Congrats to 

Zookpr!

Thank you for participating

and

I can't wait to have more 

giveaways!!

If you did not win - 

Please consider 

purchasing 

Faye Bryant's Book

Ramblings From The Shower

You will NOT regret it!

Budget? Did someone say budget??

I am a part of a few local Yahoo Groups.

Most of them (if not all)

are homeschool related.

They are ways to 

get 

and 

give 

encouragement.

A lady on one of my groups 

asked about Dave Ramsey
last week.

You can all imagine the look of 

PURE EXCITEMENT

on my face and the ants in my pants 

when I read that subject line!

I responded and pointed her to 

the posting I did a few weeks ago

(which by the way is the MOST popular

posting on this blog - WHOO HOO!!)

Makes me wanna do more like that!

And I love posting about budgeting...

I think I would enjoy a job in accounting

if I could handle all the

rules

and

regulations

and

laws

and 

"things"

like time value of money...

um, what?  

Who cares?

My time is worth way more than money!!

Right?  

Well at least I think so anyways.

So I have decided that I am going

to break down Dave Ramsey's

Total Money Makeover

and 

how we worked through it

and 

which parts we didn't follow completely.

So get ready,

get set...

Dave Ramsey's 

Total Money Makeover

"Review"

Series

Coming to 

"Are We Really Doing This???"

SOON!

Last Week

Last week was a MESS!

I am sure you have those days

where you just want to crawl back into bed

and start the day over

or just skip it completely!

Last week I had one of those WEEKS!

Nothing major, 

just everything was happening at once,

and I got SO overwhelmed with 

EVERYTHING!

We had started back to school,

it was the last week of our summer sports league

(so there were trophies to buy and parties to plan),

then the "real" new school year is getting ready to start,

so all of our homeschool groups are starting to ramp up,

and in an attempt to get active and make friends,

I had previously volunteered alot...

probably too much.

I volunteered to coordinate t-shirts for one of the groups. 

I started it a few months ago,

but quickly got unmotivated due to lack of response.

I got re-motivated by the group leader last week

and she asked me to press on.

So I did.

I am pleased with what came out of it,

the design I came up with

With the help of the only 3 participants in our 

design contest - 

14 said they were interested in participating...

I got 3 submissions.

So I combined aspects of their designs 

into one design.

I am pleased with how it turned out and will share soon!

I also volunteered to help plan, organize, co-coordinate

a used book sale for another local homeschool group

(very closely linked to the other ones I am a part of)

It has been a rough process with limited responses there too.

But we are pressing forward

the sale is Friday,

I am just ready for this one to be behind us.

So: 

trophies

t-shirts

used book sale

house decisions here

house decisions back home

oh yeah,

and then that whole "other" blog thing...

and 

cooking, cleaning, schooling

It just all hit me at once

and 

I wanted to just tell everyone

(but my family)

to go away

and

leave me alone!!!

But I didn't...

I survived...

And 

Friday,

we had the

BEST

school day we have had yet!

Well yet this year anyways

(in the 4 total weeks we have

been back at it).

So this weekend,

I regrouped,

reorganized somethings (will share later),

made my "to-do" list

made tons of headway on my 

above mentioned 

commitments

and 

projects.

I am excited to look towards 

a

NEW 

week!

Thanks for listening.

Sometimes I really just need it. 

A Confession

I am not one to air my dirty laundry,

but I will admit when I made a mistake

and 

own up to it

and 

apologize for it.

So,

here goes...

I cheated...

on you...

with another blog!

I know, I know.

I am sorry!

Terribly sorry!

And hope you can forgive me.

I cannot promise it won't happen again.

But I will follow my gut

and 

ask more questions up front!

I answered a request from a fellow

blogger when she asked for contributors

to her homeschool/homemaking blog.

I thought it sounded like fun,

more exposure.

Sure, why not, I will give it a shot.

Without any other information,

I told her I was interested in the opportunity 

and asked for more information.

The first thing she gave us 

was a schedule,

that had me and the other two new contributors

posting every 3 days!

Panic set in!

Can I commit to this?

How will I find the time?

What about topics?

How will I not overlap with my own blog?

How in the world am I going to keep up with that?

After I panicked a bit, 

I gave it a go

and

I pounded out my first 300-500 word posting for her

and I included a little blurb at the bottom

pointing people to my blog

for further discussion in a few weeks.

I asked her to review it and make sure

it was in line with what she was looking for.

No response.

So I waited and checked her blog to see if it was posted.

It was...

When the posting went live,

I was excited to see

me & my blog

on another blog!

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear?

She had removed the reference and link

to my blog.

I was crushed!

I had already been struggling with the thought 

of being able to keep up with her requests 

for posts...

and a whole bunch of other nonsense hit the fan

this week.

My plate was over flowing and I was overwhelmed...

then that...

I honestly felt let down...

So I politely told her yesterday that I could

not handle everything I had going on 

and had to resign from her blog.

Which was the truth and my fear 

from the get go...

but,

I was willing to give it a shot because I thought it

would give me a little more exposure.

Why do I want more exposure?

I am not quite sure...

I am still trying to figure out what I want

out of this blog,

but for now,

it is a hobby 

and 

I enjoy writing/talking/rambling

and 

LOVE getting the feedback from you!

So I hope you guys will forgive me.

I will get back down to business this weekend.

Don't forget to sign up for 

MY FIRST GIVEAWAY!!!