And the Veggies finally win!

Meal time with a picky toddler can be extremely frustrating and stressful. We've experienced many of these lately. It's such a struggle to get your child to eat healthy! John and I are very aware of the challenges every American faces with nutrition, especially the kiddos these days. I grew up on fast food dinners and it's been hard to break the habit. But we really want to be a family that kicks that habit and forks over a little extra time and cash into having a more healthy lifestyle. So when William refuses to eat the broccoli, carrots, green beans, eggs, really any meal we make (that he's enjoyed in the past but now refuses) is VERY frustrating. And now he's old enough to request the same thing over and over again. I'm sorry William, no you cannot have crackers (dah-ti's) and cereal (see-yoh) all day long! His new favorite is oatmeal "out-now"(which isn't bad!) but he can't eat it all day long. William loves this book his grandpa got him, Bumpety Bump, which features a grandpa taking his grandson around his garden in a wheelbarrow and they go "bumpety bump up and down and little red hen keeps following us around." They dig up potatoes, carrots, onions, pick green beans, berries, and you see ears of corn and various fruit trees illustrated in the background. And William can identify and point to all of them. Sooo, night after night we say "eat your (this or that), like in Bumpety Bump!" With no avail.

FINALLY after a long frustrating day of William NOT eating meals that I know he likes because he just ate them the other day, I steamed some carrots for dinner. And he wouldn't even try them. So I got up from the table, found Bumpety Bump, and opened right up to the page he's ever familiar with, and held up a carrot to the picture saying "see, carrots, like in Bumpety Bump. Mmmm!" and took a bite. Immediately, without a beat, William takes the carrot out of my hand and shoves it into this mouth, swallows, and takes 5 more!! YAY WILLIAM FOR EATING YOUR CARROTS John and I clap together! The next night, same thing with green beans, same reaction. Thank you Jesus what a relief!!

Since then I've googled all kinds of kids book with food, and have filled my Amazon cart with Green Eggs and Ham, Stone Soup, Bearenstein Bears and Too Much Junk Food, and Potluck. I'm very excited about my new revelation. Makes me think about how impressionable our kiddos are with the books they read... hm... Poisonous Mushroom ring a bell to anyone...?