[Sca-cooks] Feeding Kids Re: OT - Somewhat amusing

[Georgia Foster]

*** BUTTON ALERT *** RANT WARNING *** BUTTON ALERT *** RANT WARNING ***

Call me a meaniehead, my children do, but my children also eat that which is 
set before them.  Period.  No arguments.

Some may find my rule … harsh. It very likely is.  I am fine with that.   
The rule was developed at a time when we were financially not able to 
provide alternate sources of nutrition for the children to choose from.  
While we are significantly better financially more stable now, I still abhor 
even the thought of wasting food.  We just … don’t.  Fortunately, my own 
children have never known true hunger, though there have been times when 
they have eaten and I have not, so that I might hopefully still be able to 
make that statement when my youngest graduates high school.  If that smacks 
of pride … I am fine with that too.

When I was a child, we were required to eat that which was set before us, 
and also required to say "Thanks mom ... dinner was good", even if it was 
the worst burned chili imaginable.  This was driven by the “you will eat it 
and you will like it” school of thought.  It bears mentioning that there 
were occasions in my childhood when we didn't have food.  There were 
occasions in my childhood that my brothers and I knew what it was like to 
starve.  For us, the phrase “eat it or do without” had true memory meaning.

For the growing of my own children, I have removed the second requirement.  
They are told to eat it, but I will not tell them that they like it.

New foods are added periodically to the list of available meals produced for 
consumption in my home.  This list has been instrumental in the introduction 
of many of the new foods.  My children have become the unwitting test 
subjects for most of the things I have served at SCA feasts.  If the kids 
don’t like it, I assume that the populace probably won’t like it either.  As 
new foods are introduced, the children are required to eat them, same as 
always.  AFTER the meal … we discuss if they liked or if they hated it, and 
if they would like to see it on the table again.  I do take these 
discussions into consideration when planning what to serve at the family 
table.

Requiring them to eat what is set before them does not seem to have harmed 
them.  My eldest two are healthy, productive contributing members of 
society, my younger two are healthy active teenagers.  The older two were 
not even sure what candy was when they were very young children.  They were 
never given candy as a food choice … honestly, we could not afford it.  Much 
to the amazement of some of the folk in Atlantia, when my eldest two were 
presented with a choice between a wrapped candy and an apple, they would 
select the apple every time.  They did not learn what candy was until social 
integration in the public school system.  Of course, once they discovered 
the joy of wrapped snacks, they shared this information with the younger 
two.  The introduction of wrapped snack food has made healthy choice in my 
home more difficult as years progressed.

(looking down)

OH MY … what a lovely soap box.   Now where did that come from?

Sorry

Cheers

Malkin
Otherhill
Artemisia





Jo (Georgia L.) Foster
jo_foster81 at hotmail.com

Never knock on death's door........ Ring the doorbell and run. He hates 
that.

_________________________________________________________________
Add a Yahoo! contact to Windows Live Messenger for a chance to win a free 
trip! 
http://www.imagine-windowslive.com/minisites/yahoo/default.aspx?locale=en-us&hmtagline