Tag Archives: meal time

More Ways to Get a Toddler to Eat

We have all heard about hiding good foods into standard fare, such as extra vegetables in pasta sauce (one of my least favorite ways of getting a child to eat, since it involves trickery rather than changing habits), but what are some other ways of getting that picky toddler to love new and healthy food? Here are some of the methods that have worked for my family and/or the families of some of my close mom friends. The Clean Your Plate Club, Updated When I was a child, I was told that if I finished everything on my plate that … Continue reading →

The Food-Throwing Stage

Inevitably, just about ever toddler reaches this milestone and goes through a period where throwing and dropping food is far more interesting than eating it. Many parents get frustrated and exasperated with pick up and clean up and worry that the child will starve to death if she does not eat the food or will get something dreadful if fed the food that has touched the floor. It can take some creativity and patience to get through the food-throwing stage. First, decide what your tolerance level is—some parents can tolerate letting a child drop or throw food without response and … Continue reading →

Are You a Short-Order Cook?

I have found that many parents fall in one of two categories–either they are of the “I’m making one meal and if you don’t like it, you can make yourself a peanut butter sandwich” camp, or they are in the short-order cook camp–preparing a different meal for each member of the family. I am not here to pass judgment, only to share an observation and I am wondering–which camp are you in? I am somewhere in the middle…I am definitely not willing to stand in the kitchen and prepare four meals to order–but I also do try to take into … Continue reading →

Is There a Meal Where they are Pickier?

Picky eaters and battling with finicky children during meal time may seem to be family ritual for some families. In trying to figure out what is going on and why, it might help to look for clues. For example, do you have a child who is only picky at a particular meal or time of day? It might be about the types of food you are offering or some other reality of that time of day. I have known children who had a hard time at breakfast and it was because of breakfast food. As a matter of fact, when … Continue reading →

What’s Wrong with Appetizers for Dinner?

As a single parent, I have made many adjustments over the years to my family scene to accommodate the realities of a single parent family—we take things like time management and the organization of the how things operate into consideration fairly regularly. Just about everything I do is done with the intention to simplify and maximize the amount of stress-free time I can spend with my kids. Years ago, we instituted hors de oeuvres and appetizers as a way of transitioning from getting home to dinner time. Instead of making the kids wait to eat, I discovered there were many … Continue reading →

Food as Fun or Function?

While we have an entire blog dedicated to FOOD here at Families.com, I know for a fact that food and nutrition is such a huge parenting issue. So many families wrestle with picky eaters, meal times, and how to make food and family fit together better. I was talking with a parent recently who was having some struggles and couldn’t understand why since the family focus was purely on food as fuel—it was all about nutrition and building strong “body machines.” I couldn’t help but think that maybe a little more fun might make things go smoother… We bring with … Continue reading →

I’m Barely Through the Door: “Mom, What Are You Making for Dinner?”

A single parent’s day is a long day—I know that I am not alone in this reality. There are days when I am up at 5 am to start chores and work and leave my home business at 7:30 to do other work. There is plenty of overlap during the day with family stuff, home details and work, until I stop for groceries or the bank or another appointment on my way back to the house in the evening. It never fails, however, that if I walk into a house at 5 or 6 and at least one of my … Continue reading →

How Do You Feed a House Full of Very Big People (at a Moment’s Notice?)

I anticipate that the bulging of my little townhouse won’t last forever, so I am trying to cherish and enjoy it. I imagine that the day will come when what now seems like a rather tight fit will seem huge and like “too much” space. These days, I never know whether I will be feeding myself popcorn and orange juice in front of an old movie, or a half-dozen starving, strapping teenagers! Yesterday evening, I walked into my house to find the living room literally stuffed with teenage boys—okay, there were only three of them but when you take into … Continue reading →

Playing With Your Food

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Growing up, my parents encouraged a very civilized atmosphere at the dinner table. We always sat still, we never horsed around, and we never told jokes. It was very proper. It was very civilized and refined. (Not to be confused with fancy.) It wasn’t exactly the fondest part of my childhood, and there wasn’t anything wrong with it. It was in fact a rather forgettable part of my childhood. Sitting at meals with my future family was something I never put a moments thought into as I grew up. After I got married, meal time was much the same. Meals … Continue reading →

Juice Box Holders

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Now that my daughter can drink through a straw at seventeen months, I have decided that she is allowed to drink from juice boxes. It is a lot easier than having to worry about whether or not she has enough juice in her sippy cup when we are out. I can just pop a couple of juice boxes in the backpack that I use to carry her stuff and get going. Of course, as strong as she is, when I gave her one the other day she grabbed the juice box away from me and I ended up with a … Continue reading →