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Posted Wednesday January 6, 2010 by Jackie Morgan MacDougall

Sit down for dinner with my kids, and the table will be covered with foods you can only get off a kids' menu at an overpriced chain restaurant. I know, it's totally my fault and I beat myself up constantly. So after five years of kicking, screaming, crying and moping -- all by me -- I finally had enough and decided that the food issues in this house were going to be addressed -- once and for all.

Ask any mom, doctor or pretty much anyone who consumes food, and everyone has their own opinion. Pediatrician Dr. Christine Wood, author of How to Get Kids to Eat Great and Love It [Griffin Publishing Group 15.95], suggests the one-bite rule, recommending, with preschoolers especially, that after trying the food, they do not need to actually finish it. Others swear that if you include kids in the shopping and preparation process, they'll be thrilled to throw back the healthy stuff.

Instead of following one school of thought, I incorporated tiny bites of advice from various sources (along with my own stubborn need to win) to create a little experiment I like to call, "Operation Eat Your Veggies."

Day 1: Broccoli. I put a tiny piece of the green veggie on the kids' plates along with small bites of other foods they like. Suggested by a former babysitter and longtime kindergarten teacher, she said it was the best way to introduce yet not overwhelm with mounds of strange-looking vegetables.

My three kids (2, 4, 5) ate the other two foods quickly and the broccoli sat there.
 
"Eat your broccoli and you'll get more," I enlightened them.
 
My almost 3-year-old daughter gobbles it up. My 4- and 5-year-old boys' plates remain on the table. I just happened to have a sitter that night so I could get some errands done, so I instructed the sitter (also a mom) that they were to eat nothing else. Before I even got out of the car at errand #1, I had a text that my preschool boy had eaten his broccoli.
 
I swear I cried.
 
The next morning, the kindergartner came skipping down for breakfast.
 
"Do you want your breakfast warm or cold," I asked. He looked up to see the broccoli sitting on the plate from the night before and looked completely dejected.
 
"Warm," he muttered.
 
After dousing it in syrup and squishing his face up until he was unrecognizable, he ate it.
 
Sweet victory.
 
Day 2: Apple Slices. I know. You're probably scratching your head wondering why my boys won't even eat apples. They love apple sauce and Jacob ate three juicy red apples while apple picking in New England over the fall, but apples have sat night after night in my house, turning brown as adamant cries of refusal pierce my ears.
 
This time, I tried a new technique. "Just put it on your tongue," I instructed. (It is the gateway to eating, ya know.)
 
With a small amount of discussion and the threat of never eating anything they like ever again, apples were eaten.
 
Day 3: Green Beans. We were invited to dinner at a friend's house, something that normally sends me into the fetal position, thinking about how my kids will react to actual food. But I was determined to use the experience as a teachable moment. Grilled chicken, mac and cheese and green beans were served. Grilled chicken, mac and cheese and green beans came home with us that night. Grilled chicken, mac and cheese and green beans were served for breakfast the next day. That's when one child was smart enough to know that a fight was pointless and eventually was satisfied that I covered his green beans in peanut butter (don't judge) and ate it. The other pulled out a 3-part trick of his own...
 
Eat... swallow... throw up.
 
He sings "I threw up... ha ha!"
 
Doh. I can't compete with that.                                
 
Days 4-7: The tortured veggie-eating life got easier and easier with each passing day. We enjoyed pancakes with blended blueberries and flaxseed, pureed spinach in homemade pizza, watermelon slices, carrots, even tried Chinese food. The trick there was telling my kindergartner's friend that they could play video games once he ate it. Suddenly, I had a 5-year-old powerhouse trying to get my kid to eat - SCORE.
 
Week 2: I made their favorite box of crap macaroni and cheese, mixed with a substantial amount of cauliflower. It was devoured in seconds. Speaking of seconds, they even wanted more. Could they actually be acquiring a taste for the good stuff?
 
Week 3: Can you say grilled chicken parmesan and carrots? I actually made a meal that required no boxes or ingredients with a shelf life of seven decades. Life around here is changing for the better. And while I know we're just at the beginning of a very long road, with determination, consistency, and a massive amount of patience on my part, my kids might actually eat like normal little human beings.
 
How do you get your kids to eat their vegetables?

Jackie Morgan MacDougall, on the never-ending quest for balance, enjoys life in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeff, and their three small kids. Read more of her take on parenting, kids and everything else on The Silver Whining.

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