Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Nutrition by good intention

Very often in this house vegetables make their way from the kitchen


My hubby thinks I leave cabinet doors open as booby-traps for him, but as you can clearly see - I do it even when he's not around


to the kids' plates


Note the pile of broccoli on the napkin to the left of the plate.

to the trash (we're going to start composting, I promise!)

With hardly a nibble removed.

That being said, my boys do not appear malnourished.


Come on! Those cheeks!


Therefore, it is my theory that we, as parents, are able to provide the necessary vitamins and minerals by simply offering the vegetables. They do not necessarily have to be eaten by the child to do the job they were intended to do.

What is this hogwash, Melissa? I hear you thinking. But, hear me out.

If you put healthy food on the plate and you eat some of it yourself, I firmly believe some sort of magical osmosis occurs, between your good intentions and the child's body - completely bypassing the digestive system.

How else do you explain my sturdy and robust almost-3-year old who has survived on milk, goldfish and fairy dust for the past 20 months or so?

Magical Osmosis. That's what we're going with in this house.

2 comments:

  1. I think by giving our kids vegetables, they get into the habit of seeing them as part of a well-balanced diet, and then when their palates become more mature, they will partake. So we've got to keep putting them on the plate even thought they may eventually end up in the trash(or the compost heap).

    We always talk about how when Livvy was around 3 or 4, we gave her salmon and she ate it happily and kept saying "mmmm...good chicken..."

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  2. so true Tonya - just gotta stick with it and hope for the best :) these finicky toddlers will drive me crazy I swear!

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