Picky Eaters

Picky eating is something that runs in our family.  I was a terrible picky eater.   By the time I reached college, I found some courage and started trying new foods.   But at 38 years of age, I still have a list of foods I really do not want to eat.   Of course, if I had to I could be polite and eat these things.   I would just never choose to eat mushrooms, olives, Alfredo sauce, and a few other things.   They just don't taste good to me.   On the flip side there are many things I love to eat.  Sushi, I could eat it every day and be very very happy.  Almost all types of seafood, prepared just about anyway makes me very happy.   Indian food, Thai food, Vietnamese food, all make me sing happy, happy, joy, joy!    And much more.

I have two beautiful girls and I'm here to tell you, they are both very picky eaters.   When Maddy was a baby, it became apparent that she was definitely choosey on what she would eat.  I blamed myself for not teaching her to eat right, or introducing enough foods, etc.   All the while I was pregnant with Makena, I vowed to do things differently and surely Makena would be a great eater.   Maybe she'd even be such a good eater it would rub off on Madelyn!!    Well, I was humbled yet again in my parenting journey.

Makena is an extremely picky eater.  And not for lack of me trying.  I realized with kid #2, that its not all about what I do or don't do.   Some of this is just who they are.   And Makena is very much afraid of food.  She absolutely will not try new things.   I still put out many new items, over and over, and over.   And most of the time its thrown off her plate.  Yes, thrown...that is a whole seperate blog post.  Madelyn, at 3 1/2 years of age will break out into sobs when I put new foods on her plate  Its plain offensive to even have it on her plate.  But we still try.   Once in a rare while we have a success with a new food, only to be met with screams and crying when we try and serve the new food again.   How fun for us.

Here is where the soap box comes in.   I am very tired of the judging that goes on between parents.  I believe most of us are guilty of it.   I try to remind myself to each his own.   I recently had an experience where another parent was surprised, maybe even shocked, that I wasn't feeding my children what was on my plate.  We had Orange Ginger Tofu Stir-Fry last night.  If your child would eat this, well you definitely get the parental gold-star of the day.   My children would break out into screams if I attempted to feed this to them. That is just not how it goes in this house.    And fantastic for you, if your children will eat whatever you cook.   Maybe this makes me a bad, horrible parent, who's has done an awful job raising them.  Or maybe, just maybe this makes us pretty damn normal.   Someday they will eat things like spaghetti or PB&Js or maybe even Thai food.  But for now, they don't.  And we'll get there.....some how, some day, in our own way.   And hopefully without a lot of needless judging.

Leaving my soap box for now.

Random

“Play is the work of children,” Captain Kangaroo (aka Bob Keeshan) once said. “It’s very serious stuff.”

Maddy Says...

"When I grow up I want to be a Daddy so I can stand up and pee like you Daddy."
"Know we talked about in Preschool today?  We talked about Naked Mole Rats."
"Mommy, why don't you go talk to someone else."
"Pirates don't go potty" (She was playing dress-up in a Pirate outfit)  Her friend Molly came back with "Princesses go potty".   

And Makena isn't saying much yet.  She has lots of babbling, gesturing, whining and definitely gets her point across.  But words are not being said yet.  I'm sure one day soon she'll explode and then will have two little ones jabbering non-stop, and a mom who already feels silence is like gold.  You can never have too much.

Playing a little catch up in this post.   I got a chance to visit Madelyn's preschool on Valentines Day.   Makena came with me and did her best to interrupt their story time and make a nuisance of herself. 

Mostly, over the last few weeks, we did a lot of this.....

And this.....

When Madelyn is sacked out on the couch, with pillow and blanket....you know your in the trenches with the sickies.   We had a bad croupy cough the last few weeks.  It started with Madelyn and was tough for her, so I knew it wouldn't be anymore fun with Makena.   I am glad to be done with that, back to healthy kids, and getting some good nights sleep again.  

All Fools Day Parade

We've taken a little break from our blog.  Sometimes you just don't have much to blog about.   I'll do a catch up post later on our boring lives of the last month.  Mostly, just sick.   Mom sick, Makena sick, Maddy sick, Makena sick.  You get the idea, not real exciting stuff. 

 

And today that changed.  I took the girls to the annual All Fools Day Parade in Woodinville. Michael was off sailing, so it was up to me to wrangle two little ones.  Two girls,  mutliple sippies and snacks, one large wagon, two small kid chairs, and additional supplies for the event. We had some initial tears and whining, but once we met up with our friends, everyone seemed to get happy.

 

The parade is an adorable event, with the main feature being a brigade of basset hounds all dressed up in various costumes of sorts.   Its a rather small parade, but just perfect for little kids.   Makena surprised me on how accepting she was of it, happy to watch the parade and eat snacks.   I was impressed as I really thought she wouldn't last long.    We saw many friends in the parade and around town.  The looming threat of rain held off till the end of the parade, so we lucked out with weather. 

One of the last things we saw was Ronald McDonald bringing up the end of the parade on a Segaway.   Maddy screamed out "Hey, its Old MacDonald...its Old MacDonald!"     She thinks McDonalds is called Old Macdonalds Farm.   Hah!  So, I guess this must be Old MacDonald himself, in person, on a Segaway.