Mothership Meals and Satellite Saucers: What Kind of Parent Cuts the CRUSTS OFF?

Monday, March 17, 2008

What Kind of Parent Cuts the CRUSTS OFF?

Uh, guilty...
I do this despite the fact that before I had kids I was scathingly scornful of the all the morons out there peeling their kids' apples and cutting off their crusts. What was wrong with these idiots?

Well, now that I have kids I'm a little more humble and a lot more desperate. My 8-year-old comes home at least a few times a week with virtually nothing eaten out of his lunchbox. What am I going to do? Not only do I cut the crusts off, hoping to make it easier to take that first bite, I also give him a juice box. I used to put in a little water bottle, but turns out he was harassing other kids to trade a juice box for... I'm not sure what in his lunch might have constituted a cool trade (some carrot coins, perhaps? a black sesame rice cracker?), but you can't blame him for trying. Still, lunch remains a problem.

"They don't give us enough time," he says. Plus, the kids are in a rowdy lunchroom, set free for the first time in a few hours, and still haven't had recess to run off their energy.

Some schools give the kids recess first, then lunch. This makes more sense to me.

If you're interested in joining the fight to improve school lunch, come to the Baum Forum's School Food Conference at Teachers' College on April 11 and 12.

Believe it or not, despite the fact that I cut my kids' crust off and give them juice boxes, they've asked me to talk about starting a school food committee. Don't tell them about the juice boxes, okay?

Hope to see some of you there!

2 comments:

Juna said...: You're a bad,bad mommy. Keep your non-crust eating kids far away from my crust eating kids. See you at the Forum!; March 19, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Anonymous said...: Larissa,
I LOVE your blog. And i love the mothership meals idea, we already do a variation on this.

And i cut the crusts off too. my dirty little secret. Come on, don't you like your sandwich better with the crusts off? Plus then the kids will actually eat the whole sandwich, as opposed to leaving a 1" border so as not to have a single molecule of crust pass their lips...
i'm so glad yuna turned me onto your blog--
cay; March 26, 2008 at 9:22 AM

Post a Comment

The Mothership Method

(Or, how to sit down for dinner with your family without completely losing your mind)

It would be great if kids AND parents wanted boiled chicken and baby carrots every night for dinner. But, too bad, we picky parents want spicy, exotic, fun foods, and our kids want, well, sorta lame foods.
Here's the solution: break it down. Serve the dish deconstructed, and let everyone put their own dish together at the table. Sort of like tapas, or smorgasbord, or tacos. Or how in some parts of China you get a bowl of rice, and everything else is in the middle of the table and you take what you want for your own little bowl of rice. That way everyone gets to eat what they want, parents don't have to nag their kids, and kids get to feels some ownership over their meals. Plus, kids get exposed to the look and taste of the foods you hope they will one day love. But it's not just tacos. You'll be amazed at what can be served with the Mothership Method.

Ten Tips to Get Through Dinner Without Having A Nervous Breakdown

1. Accept That Kids Are Picky. No need to freak out on your cooking ability, or look at your kids like there is something wrong with them. It's called "neo-phobia", and it's just how they are, especially from ages 3-6.

2. Serve Meals Broken Down. Even grown-up meals like coconut curry or linguine with clams can be served in their elements, making them more appealing to kids. Grown ups can assemble their own jumble of deliciousness at their own plate while kids take on the pared-down elements.

3. Push if it Works, But Don't Nag If It Doesn't. Some kids are okay with being expected to taste everything on their plate. Others aren't. I think it's okay to push kids -- but not if you're turning dinner into a battlefield.

4. Suggest a Smell. Smelling a new food is easier than tasting it, and can sometimes provide a kid with the information needed to take that scary first bite. But don't confine smelling to new foods. Smell favorites, too, and help them develop their sense of smell by making a game out of it.

5. Don't Ask "Do You Like It?" Instead, try, "What does this remind you of?" or, "Would your cousins like this?" or, "Does this taste salty or sweet?". Asking if they like it or not gives kids too much power and ends the conversation. Besides, we don't care if they like it! We just want them to keep tasting it until it is familiar.

6. Don't Get Frustrated. Imagine being in Taiwan, or Nairobi, or Rome for the first time. Would you eat everything on the local menu? New foods are scary and gross. Our kids need time to learn about the foods that we eat.

7. No SubstitutionsThis is family dinner, not a diner. You, in all your wisdom, have provided foods that are healthy and delicious and appropriate for your children. There is something on the table for them to eat. Period.

8. No Snacks Before Dinner. This can be the hardest with our hectic schedules and hungry kids. But children who come to the table hungry are more likely to eat than cause trouble.

9. Put Peer Pressure To Your Advantage. School children are more likely to accept new foods if the alpha girls in their group accept them. Swap healthy food ideas on playdates.

10. Involve Your Kids In Cooking, Shopping, and Gardening. The more experience kids have handling and preparing a variety of foods, the more likely they are to eventually accept the foods. (But don't get upset if they help you make a complicated wonderful meal, and then refuse to eat it.)