Raising Foodies

I have a four year old who loves peaches. She ate them all so quickly that the day came when she wanted me to put a "cut-up peach" in her lunch for school, and the whole crate of them was gone. I promised I'd get more at Costco. But when I went to Costco the peaches looked a little ... gloomy. But the nectarines looked and smelled amazing, so I got some of those instead. I figured, they taste similar and nectarines don't have the fuzz. She'll love them.

So the next day I cut one up, put it in a plastic container and slipped it into her lunch for a surprise. I was actually expecting her to remind me of the promised peach - my kids never forget ANYTHING - but she didn't. When she got home from school that afternoon I asked her how her day was and all those things, then I asked her about lunch.

"Did you like your lunch, sweetheart?"

"Yeah."

"Were you so surprised about the peach I put in there???"

"Um, well ... I didn't eat it."

"Oh, why didn't you eat it?"

"Well, it didn't really taste the same."

"You didn't like the taste?"

"No, it tasted different."

"Well, it was actually a nectarine I put in there. Costco didn't have any good peaches, so I thought you'd like nectarines instead."

"I don't like them."

Well, dang! Anything else? 

This happens to me all the time. I don't know why I'm ever, EVER surprised. My kids know what kind of cheeses they like, what kind of syrup they like (oh and not in a bottle, by the way, but made from scratch), what kind of apples, pumpkin pie, and noodles they like. They refuse to eat school lunches. They would literally rather go hungry; I'm not even making that up. Store bought pizza is NOT a treat, turns out. Macaroni and cheese is for babies and hospitals. Chicken nuggets?  Newest item on the official yuck list. 

Periodically I make them try food they already "know" they don't like. Noelle doesn't like tomatoes or olives. And every time she tries them again she chews for a minute, spits it out and says, "I still don't like that." 

"Okay. Thanks for trying!" I say. Then we go on with our lives. 

Top Ramen is, however, the best thing to ever come out of my kitchen, and they would eat it every single day. It's kind of a tradition now to have it whenever Eldon is out of town. I fed it to him one time when we were newlyweds in college. He was not impressed. 

And they love mint. Mint chocolate, mint candies, mint lip gloss. Mint mint mint. After I got my oldest on the bus this morning, I gave the younger girls a mint lifesaver as a bribe to take pictures for 30 seconds. 

My four-year-old, the peach lover, will actually raid the medicine closet and eat minty cough drops like candy. Bubble gun flavored tooth paste? For babies. Okay, fresh mint it is.

Do all children have such crazy food preferences? My husband made the lunch sandwiches the other day and every child had a different request. Peanut butter with jam. Peanut butter without jam. Peanut butter with honey, if there's honey, then with jam is there's no honey. Crust off. Cut into halves. Cut into triangles. Cut into "square fourths." I'm not even making that up. He looked at me and said, "They're sandwiches." I know, Honey ... oh, I know.

Our oldest is truly gifted. She can detect when I sneak in the Mexican blend grated cheese in the quesadilla or if I do like I'm supposed to and use the mild long horn cheese that I grated myself. She loves chia seeds in pancake batter because she likes "the texture" better. She's seven. 

And if I ever, EVER have a bad day and try to use bottled pasta sauce, no one will eat it. Not even the 2-year-old. 

My mothering style is a lot like my mom's. I love to cater to your wishes. I show my love by remembering what you like and don't like and filling your life with things you do like to help the things you don't like go down a little easier. I want my kids to know that in this world where there are bullies and bug bites and bruises, there is a woman thinking of them, and that their opinions matter. If I can do something you like, I do it. If I can't, you know it's because I couldn't, but I would have if I could have. Either way, the love still comes through.

Eldon and I actually had an "ah ha!" moment as a couple the other night when we were in the kitchen. He was making mashed potatoes. I told him he could eat them and take leftovers to work because the girls don't like mashed potatoes. He told me I could put them on the table, tell the girls that's what for dinner, and they can eat it or go hungry. I told him I'm not that kind of mother. If I want the girls to eat potatoes I will prepare them in a way I know they like, and serve them for dinner. I'm not going to intentionally prepare the potatoes in a way I know my children don't like. 

He told me we make them eat things they don't like all the time. I said, I know, because I haven't found a way to make broccoli, or zucchini (except the bread), or most beans palatable yet. But if I could, I would. And I will keep trying new recipes, new spices, new combinations, until they like food that is good for them. This is one of the ways I show my love and respect to my children. Why torture them if you don't have to?? It's like saying, "I'm sorry, making food you actually enjoy eating is not worth the effort to me." I could almost see the light bulb go on in his eyes. He got it. 

They aren't spoiled. They're foodies. :)

First Week Of School

We have lived in Birmingham, Alabama for just over a month now. The beginning of school really snuck up on me. I was LOVING spending my days with these darling girls. We discovered the local movie theatre does a $5 Tuesday event during the summer when we only had two weeks until school. So we went. Twice.

Chiara said, "A movie AND popcorn??? This is the best day of my life!!!" I'd even smuggled in some candy and water in the diaper bag, so it was truly a feast. We saw the new Ice Age movie, and my favorite part was hearing my kids giggling in the darkness. Although I have to admit, there were a couple times I was laughing the hardest in the theatre. I'm such a child. The parents around me snickered every time I had to remind Eve to be quiet and she would yell, "Okay, Mom, I be so QUIET!!!!!"

The other favorite activity over here is the cool park that does a fair kind of thing every Friday night. Eldon took the big girls (I stayed home with Brooke) the first time, not knowing about the activities there, and the girls came back with balloons, candy, and face paint.

Our last Saturday before school started we went to Walmart for a few last minute things. I let them dress themselves, and they looked like total street urchins. But as we crossed the street they all just kind of came together and joined hands ... It looked so sweet I had to document it. So I stood in the middle of the street and took a picture.

I love spontaneous sister love. We actually have a big mason jar I let the girls put orbeez in when I catch them being sweet to each other. As a mother, I just feel that if I can teach them to be KIND, over and above everything else, they will be okay. In the April 2012 Conference Elder Holland said something that has become our family motto:

I love this so, so much. When the girls get out of the car in the morning I tell them I love them and remind them to be kind. That's it. I hope I can be an example of kindness in my own walk before God.

Whoa, don't fall over!! :)

I love these little women so much. I love raising a little gaggle of girls. This morning my brother and sister-in-law welcomed a baby boy into their family. Bennett was born so early I didn't see the texts until we were in church, and I thought, "I wonder what it would be like to love a little boy the way I love my little girls." Sometimes it twinges my heart just a little that I don't know what that feels like. 

But then one of my girls will pop through my thought bubble and into my real face, and I think, "Nope ... I'm good." :)

They're Like Dominoes

This silly child:

 

is sick:

So sick she didn't even make it all the way to my bed to wake me up. She just crashed right there on the floor until I almost stepped on her when I got up with Brooke.

And because she loves Brooke so much:

She shared her germs. By rubbing her snotty face all over Brooke's hands. 

So now this cheerful baby:

looks like this:

Of course I don't want my kids to get sick, but I have to admit ... I looooooove all the extra snuggles.