Eating Habits

I often think of my kids as not being the best eaters. They are picky, eat very little at dinner, or want snacks all the time. My extended family has commented on how they have a hard time just sitting at a table to eat and often wander off in the middle of a meal, only to randomly come back and clean their plates in 10-15 minutes. (Thanks for the feedback, by the way, always appreciated!) But in some regards, they are phenomenal eaters, and for that I'm very lucky.

Take yesterday, for instance.

Typically I am in charge of dinner at our house. This makes our dinner hour pretty late, since I don't leave work until 5:30 (or something a little later), arrive home around 6:00 and then get to rush around and make something and try to get it served by 7:00. Last night was no exception.

In the meantime, the little ones are hungry (shocker) and want something to snack on.

"Mommy, can I have some strawberries?" asks Lindsey.

"Me too! Me too!" says Marissa.

Sure, why not. So I clean some fresh strawberries and hand them both a little bowl. Followed by another small bowl. And then...a different request.

"Mommy, can I have some green beans?" asks Lindsey.

"Me too! Me too!" says Marissa.

Sigh...okay, if you must. So I clean up some fresh green beans, trim the ends and hand them both a bowl.

By this time dinner is nearly ready. Lindsey finishes her bowl of green beans and Marissa brings hers to the table.

They look at what I made: chicken taco rice casserole.

Lindsey's eyes grow wide and she says, "Yummmm!" and licks her lips and rubs her tummy in a dramatic fashion.

She proceeds to eat two full servings and Marissa actually ate an entire serving too. I didn't actually expect them to eat dinner after filling up on strawberries and green beans.

Sometimes they don't eat the dinner at all, but they are okay with that because they had healthy snacks. And I would feel like a bad mom if I told them they couldn't have fresh vegetables and fruit because it would ruin their dinner of canned and artificially preserved foods that I threw into a casserole.

So I guess my kids are actually phenomenal eaters, and we're pretty lucky parents for that.