The hammer dropped on Big Brother a few weeks ago.
And by “the hammer”, I mean, “family dinner.”
Husband and I recently decided that enough was enough with the finicky “I only eat orange mac & cheese, hot dogs and chicken nuggets” attitude. It was time for the kids to eat what we eat. When we eat.
Sure, it meant a simultaneous change in our dinner patterns (earlier dinner time, slightly altered meals) but we were all for the health benefits of cutting short (or eliminating) the cocktail hour and not going to bed on a full stomach.
We knew Little Brother wouldn’t be an issue. He always wants to be eating whatever the grown-ups are eating and regularly pleads to sit on his father’s lap for bites of our dinner hours after his is done. The kid has been ordering steak tips, ribs or chicken wings from restaurant menus for well over a year now. No problem there.
Big Brother, however? We knew he’d put up a fight.
We made the move to all eating together about two weeks ago. Twice Big Brother has willingly chosen to go straight to bed (at 6:30 pm) because he doesn’t want to even try what’s on his plate. Twice we’ve had great success where BB actually tried something new and (hallelujah!) enjoyed it! The rest of the days have been somewhere in between. Let’s just say there have been more than a few tears shed and a whole lot of dramatic gagging.
It sucks.
Husband and I have done a decent job of trading off the Good Cop / Bad Cop role. But Big Brother’s wise to us. He’s taken to asking me what’s for dinner very early in the morning and then spends most of the day lobbying for something he likes.
Because he knows who the menu planner is.
So, when I choose something like jambalaya? (I know. Not cool, Mom.) Big Brother knows who to blame.
And, conversely, when Dad announces that there will be no forced dinner together while we’re on vacation next week?
Let’s just say, he knows who to thank.
He may be going hungry, but the kid’s no fool.
Confessions of a Serial Swooper 
It is not easy being a Mother or a Father! You are doing a great job!
Thanks, Sal! Coming from someone who successfully raised her own superstar kids, I take that as a big compliment.
Good job! Stay the course. We’ve got a picky eater too. We bribe him with screen time to get him to eat.
http://hugskissesandsnot.wordpress.com/2011/03/15/how-much-screen-time-have-you-earned/
Damn that Husband. I HATE when they do that crap. It’s like playing with the baby right before bed.
I feel for you! I have the pickiest eater in the world for a granddaughter, and nothing her parents have tried has worked. She would starve to death before she’d eat anything that is off her two or three food choices, none of which include any vegetables. Glad I’ve already raised my kids!
The gagging. Gotta love the gagging! If you are successful, I may try this. I’m totally rooting for you.
But during the school year with all the activities eating nice sit-down family dinners goes right out the window. Totally sucks!
Oh, and the white balls were ping pong balls. LB THOUGHT they were GITD super balls. I couldn’t figure out why it turned out to be a ping pong ball when it came out of the machine. Finally, it dawned on me. Beer Pong!
Love this. Want to smash your boy’s sign, but…
love this.
Oh, man, I tell you, if only there was a way to bottle all that determination.
I love your husband!
Thanks for sharing the link. It is an adjustment getting everyone to eat together. We started offering cereal as an alternative when my boys were, hmmm in pre-K and early elementary I think. So if they didn’t like the main dish that I took time to prepare, they could help themselves to cereal. Instead of lobbying for a yet another meal of nuggets, have you considered getting a kid-friendly cookbook and having him pick out a recipe to make along with you?
I hope the vacation was fun!