17 different women, 36 crazy children, 0 babies in utero
Adventures, Advice and Questions from a group of Mormon women who met in Queens, NY and have now scattered all over the place.
 

Saturday, July 14, 2007

You've GOT to be kidding me...

I was listening to Bob Greene on XM radio...

he was speaking to this sickeningly chipper woman who I think had written a book or something. Her voice made me picture this really young, put-together, FIT super mom, who when talking about her son, made me think she only had 1 child, and for some reason she had long, luxurious, healthy-looking, suave-like brown hair, and she was like 25.

I found out who the woman is, what she looks like, and the name of her book.

Anyway, the only thing that I remember about the interview was this, and I am paraphrasing her here:
"I got my son to eat Spinach. I told him to pretend to be a giraffe and eat these leaves. I would hold them up in the air and he would eat them. I got my son to eat spinach!" (said in a Home Shopping Club-esque surprise and delighted voice).

Then she went on to state that she and her son pretended to be dinosaurs and ate up ALL the trees (broccoli) in his mashed potatoes.

It sounded too good to be true, and my main thought while listening was a big fat YEAH RIGHT.

HOWEVER, since my recent high cholesterol diagnosis, weight gain (ok it's only 5 pounds but STILL), and genuine desire for my family to eat healthy and maintain a healthy lifestyle, I picked up a bag of spinach today (let's hope it was ecoli-free).

I explained the game to my children, and they ate spinach. Like, a LOT of spinach. Even Poopy who is a fruit-a-holic, ate about 8 to 10 spinach leaves. Pukey asked for more, in her own bowl please, and after tasting the first one said: "THESE ARE REALLY GOOD".

And all of a suden, I'm a believer.

And, Zonya had something else to say that I remembered: Instead of rewarding our children with candy, reward them with good food. I know everyone's rolling their eyes now, but it's true right? We are the ones who introduce this reward system (well, unless it was Grandma: ) ), and we can change it. I knew a woman who told her son that water was juice....he bought it for a while.

Anyway, just passing it on, because that's what I do...spinach anyone?

posted by Kage @ 7/14/2007 01:55:00 PM   add to kirtsy


13 Comments:

  • That's a great idea! Hey, if it works... =)

    I have a friend who had a nephew who was just dead set against potty training. He had decided he wanted none of it, and he was very very stubborn. His grandfather and he had had a 2 hour long fight about the potty the day before, and my friend talked about his ninja training with him. He explained how ninjas aren't allowed to wear diapers because the crinkling sound gives them away. It just being a stealth thing. So part of ninja training is learning to go to the potty, and also of course washing your hands afterward. It worked like a charm. Suddenly he was potty trained. I thought that was awesome. My friend is so great with kids. He's got two of his own now and he's a wonderful father.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/14/2007 07:57:00 PM  



  • By the way, I should have said in that incoherent post that the kid was three years old.f
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/14/2007 07:59:00 PM  



  • I second the notion that this trick works. We've done this with my two year old for most things on her plate, the only problem is, sometimes I can't think of what animal loves to eat tacos. Then we says it's dora, or some other cartoon character. Or we make up a monster and she has great fun deciding what the monster is like.

    Other tricks I've learned over the past year- Mommy giggles (or snorts or does something silly) everytime you take a bite, and Daddy begging to have a bite, at which point the child gleefully eats the food just to defy her father. Dinner has become a circus some days, but our two year old isn't interested in our normal dinnertime conversation, so it keeps her interested in food.
    posted by Blogger John at 7/14/2007 08:56:00 PM  



  • Oh my god - if this works, I will be doing the "I got my kid to eat" dance. My two year old exists on fruit, juice, and the occasional cheerio so we'll see if this works on her!
    posted by Blogger Rhonda at 7/15/2007 05:08:00 AM  



  • Beware of the BRIGHT GREEN SMELLY poops that result from eating so much fresh spinach. I learned the hard way! My boys did think it was a hoot to eat "leaves" though. They still talk about it.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/15/2007 06:41:00 AM  



  • My son went through a phase when he was a toddler of refusing to wear socks. It was like a phobia---he was terrified of socks. I got some grey ones and tried telling him they were robot feet. He immediately asked if wearing them would turn him into a robot. I said sure, and he wanted to believe me so badly. But it only took a few seconds for him to decide I was full of it. He didn't wear socks for another year or two.

    At which point he developed a phobia of stairs.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/15/2007 08:22:00 AM  



  • This post reminds me of what Rachael Rays says to do to get kids to eat. She says just name the dinner something really gross and disgusting. Like instead of spaghetti & meatballs, say "dinosaur guts & eyeballs" or something like that. I don't know if that works (b/c I only have a 1 yr. old), but she says that is the way to go to get kids to eat. Who knows????? Worth a try though.
    posted by Blogger Beth at 7/15/2007 02:39:00 PM  



  • I love this trick! I use the carrot monster trick (like cookie monster but he eats carrots).

    And remember a long time ago getting Princess to eat a huge stack of green beans by convincing her they all wanted to be together as a big family in her stomach. If she ate just one or two, the rest would get lonely.

    I think that story only worked once.
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 7/15/2007 08:33:00 PM  



  • This is wonderful. I will keep this in my bag of tricks for when my son gets a little older.
    posted by Blogger Melissa at 7/16/2007 08:11:00 AM  



  • ok. the giraffe leaves only worked once for Poopy, but PUkey loves them...
    looking forward to some green barf from her.

    I think I might have been able to figure this out on my own, but until now, I have sort of refused to stand on my head and do cartwheels to get my kids to eat....but...maybe now I will even try that.
    posted by Blogger Kage at 7/16/2007 12:11:00 PM  



  • My MIL told my husband, her first, that spinach was the best treat around. He believed it and that was his reward for things. Once at the grocery store he threw a fit becuase she offered him a candy bar but he was adamant about having spinach! This probably wouldn't work after the first child though since everyone else would know what was really going on!
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 7/16/2007 03:23:00 PM  



  • I fully agree with this Zonya chick. My rewards for my kids are fruits, not candy. And while most moms pack candy and treats as ammunition on long road trips or flights, I bring lots of fruit (not Fruit SNACKS which are really candy with a fancy name!) and sometimes some whole grain granola bars.

    As for mealtimes, my kids are generally very good eaters, but when they need a little extra motivation, we've developed a little game that they like. For every bite, they get to pick an exercise for me to do. For instance, they'll say, "10 jumping jacks" or "5 squats" or "12 kicks," etc. It works really well and I get a little extra toning time in! :)
    posted by Blogger merathon at 7/28/2007 06:51:00 PM  



  • He was three and he already knew what a ninja was? What on earth are they letting him watch?
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 8/02/2007 12:37:00 AM  



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