Friday, April 3, 2009

Feeding the crowd

Heather, over at 2 Brits, 2 Yanks and 2 dogs, tagged me to play a picky food meme, "Just Three More Bites", and share some of my food battle stories. Over the past 12 years, my two chow hounds and my two picky diners have provided plenty of material for me to share with you. All my kids have "J" names, so I'll refer to them as J1, J2, J3 and J4. When I'm in a rush, you'll hear me calling them by that J nickname to get the crowd moving. Since they all have J names, I fall into my father's trap of mixing the names up. As a kid, I used to think it was funny when my dad would call us the wrong name. Now as a parent of 4 kids, I understand how easily that can happen :) Back to the food stories.

My firstborn, J1, does not give me any real trouble when it comes to eating what I put on the plate. He will try new foods, usually with no complaints. Like me, he can be obsessed with chocolate and sweets. I need to install a lock on the pantry some days. I don't want him popping Oreos into his mouth like popcorn. He is sneaky when he does raid the pantry. I think a spy camera may be necessary to catch him in the act. I have to watch my chocolate stash!

My second son, J2, is an extremely picky eater. If he could have pizza for every meal, he would be so happy. I'm always amazed that he'll ask for pizza the day after we just had it for dinner. Does he really think I'll go for the 365 day pizza meal plan? I think it would take him a long time to get sick of pizza. We have our battles every night about trying something on his plate. Anything! He will sulkily eat some vegetables, pasta, chicken and fruit. For some reason, he has a serious aversion to bread. I don't know where that came from. I LOVE bread! So you can imagine how creative I need to be when packing his lunch. He would fall over if he saw a sandwich in his lunchbox.

My third son, J3, is hungry all the time. He is a big eater. In his kindergarten, they asked all the kids to name their favorite food. His classmates are saying pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. My son proudly tells the teacher that he loves meat. His all time favorite food is meatballs. If I didn't watch him closely, he would eat way too many meatballs at a sitting. Like my oldest son, he is open to trying new foods. He has a ravenous appetite. It seems like he is always asking for a snack. He tells me that he likes to eat a lot because he is training to be a wrestler. As he says, he wants to "beef up" so he can body slam the big guys in the ring. I have to watch that he doesn't try his wrestling moves out on my tiny little daughter. Even though she's small, she could probably hold her own in a match.

My daughter, J4, is by far my toughest opponent when it comes to food. With her hands on her hips, she will look me straight in the eye and say, "Mama, I told you. I don't eat that. It's too messy and princesses don't like to get messy!" Now when I give her something that is not messy, she'll say, "Mama, I only eat what I like. Please take this away." She is a true diva in every way. Unlike J2, she loves bread so she can go to town when I give her some Italian bread. She'll get messy eating the bread, but she'll just shake off the crumbs by doing a little dance. Her "messy" speech must be reserved for every other food group. It's a fight to get her to eat fruits and vegetables. She will eat waffles, pancakes, chicken and crackers. Everything else is an ongoing battle. I'm stressed about how much she eats every day. I take some comfort knowing that I was supposedly a picky eater and I grew up o.k.

Kim, the wonderful mommy blogger over at The child, probably has some cute food battle stories to share. So here you go, Kim! I tag you to play the picky food game too :)

20 comments:

Penny said...

How fun! My husband is a mix between J1 and J2 -- he could pop Oreos in his mouth all day...but he'd settle with a daily dose of pepperoni pizza. =)

Kim said...

I love this post. Your kids crack me up! You had better save up for when those three boys are practically men and they eat you out of house and home!

Thanks for tagging me. I'm at work and will do my best to post something soon! Have a great day:)

T Rex Mom said...

Meal times sound like events. I love the messy princess excuse - TOO funny!

kel said...

I've got a picky eater too! I feel your pain!

Dani said...

AH! The picky eaters indeed! My HUSBAND is the worst actually...but he's getting better at eating what I make- probably just to charm me. But I don't complain too much because he cooks more often than I do right now and he's REALLY good at it. Air-go the pickiness probably comes from the sensitive over-meticulous taste buds of a chef.

H.K. said...

I wrote my post about my son being a picky eater before I read yours...great minds think alike?

I love your daughter's messy food speech, how adorable!

Creativity said...

good kids:) good post too:)

bel said...

Oh! I thought I was the only one with a kid who doesn't eat bread. Don't all children love carbs? My older daughter tries to live the opposite of the Atkins diet, but my little one eats everything on her plate, as long as it isn't green or made with flour.

Pegsy said...

Wow! You've got your hands full with all those opinions! I think every mother, who cares about nutrition at all, stresses over what their kids will and won't eat! I know I do. I have one who eats anything and everything and ALL the time! (My daughter, actually!) My son does really well and I can't complain, but he does have his days where he's just stubborn. Our fights with him are usually over the quantity, rather than the food itself. Somedays I wonder how he survives on the little amount he eats!

CJ Sweet said...

Hi, thanks for visiting my blog! Looks like we have something in common, I have three boys and a girl too. Well, I went and had a second girl 4 months ago, but I remember just having the three boys and one girl and I feel a connection anyway. :-) I had to laugh when you said you mix their names up because they all start with "J". I have no excuse at all! My children's names could not be more different but I am always mixing them up, even calling the boys by the girls' names and vice versa. Sometimes I even throw in my husband and the cat for good measure. :-) You are brave to write about your children's eating habits. I don't even want to write it out for fear that it will depress me. They are all pretty picky! I will surely be visiting you again! :-)

G. B. Miller said...

I used to be a very picky eater while growing up.

Fortunately, it didn't rub off my two childrens.

They'll eat anything and everything under the sun.

Especially my son.

Michelle said...

Oh that's too funny. I can so see Little Miss doing something like what you describe with your daugther. I've decided that while some days they'll eat a lot and others they won't, eventually they'll eat when they're hungry. So long as they continue to gain weight, it's all good :)

And YES Mister Man just told me today that he wants my "yummy meatballs" as his half birthday dinner next Saturday. Bizarre.

Oh, And I thought I was doing good with names -- a boy and a girl, different letters, different syllabic emphasis... and I still mess it up sometimes :)

shabby girl said...

What a riot! They're all so different! Your sweetie has good manners-Mommy, I only eat what I like. Please take this away. Cracked me up!
Are first borns better about trying new things because we had more time to spend over it? I don't know.
Loved the wrestler reasoning! Very creative.
Pizza boy reminds me of one of my brothers, who only wanted oatmeal, every meal. My mother actually thought she could make him sick of it by letting him have it 3 times a day for a week. He still eats it today.
God love 'em!

Andrea said...

So funny...your princess sounds like quite a character!!! :) Glad they all enjoy the dogs over at The Charlie Project...I'm glad you didn't tag me for this meme...my fur"kids" eat everything! ;)

Judith Ellis said...

Wonderful! How loving! I laughed aloud. Thanks!

The Write Girl said...

Oh how cute!! Okay, these kids seem to drive you crazy. Between the wrestler and the princess and J2 who doesn't eat sandwiches, you do have your hands full. Your kids are full of life and personality...never a dull moment. Great food stories : )

Jenners said...

Oh Lord! I don't know how you do it. I have two picky eaters ...my son and my husband. And I hate to cook. It is a nightmare. If I had three other kids, I think I would just give up! And your daughter just sounds so funny ... though I'm sure it is not totally amusing to you.

Anonymous said...

My girl is a picky eater too. One day all she wants is pizza then ten minutes into eating she never wants to see it again. I must have the only child in the world who will not eat McDonalds. On the one hand that is great becuse it is not the healthiest stuff but on the other hand it would be nice to just fed her and forget it.

2 Brits, 2 Yanks, 2 Dogs said...

Thanks for playing along, I am waiting for Molly-Mae to play the princess card!

Adlibby said...

Oh boy. We all have those battles I guess. I feel like I am a war with my two girls trying to get them to eat good food. Somedays I wonder if they will ever get beyond "Noodles and stinky cheese" (parmesan) and plain foods. They are definitely not adventurous. Will they be living on cheesy crackers and fruit snacks when they go away to college?!!!