Standing Your Ground

Lately, the weather has been terrible in Missouri.  Cold and rainy for weeks days.  Unfortunately, being house-ridden makes the Musselman people quite cranky.  After an especially rainy day, I decided to do something special with the kids last week.  When I picked Avery and Logan up from school, I told them I would take them to Going Bonkers (indoor play place heaven) after dinner.  The catch?  The kids had to try everything on their dinner plate.  You see, I am not a believer in making kids clean their plates, but I am tired of my kids eating nothing but chicken nuggets and pizza.  At school, the kids have a "try it and you'll like it" theory started to implement that at home.  Avery is an eater and does a great job trying new things.  Logan does not.  His preferred diet is limited to yogurt, chicken nuggets, pizza, hot dogs, pancakes, cereal, chocolate, fruit and peas.  I know, I know, there are worse things in life than having a picky eater.  I'm just tired of being a short order cook.

On this particular night, I made grilled chicken, cous cous, peas and blueberries.  Avery, being so excited about Bonkers, quickly ate everything I gave her, went potty and got ready for Bonkers.  Logan wasn't quite as obedient.  He ate his peas and blueberries, but refused to touch his chicken or cous cous.  As a rule, I don't push the starches on the kids (pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, etc.) so I wasn't concerned about the cous cous, but the chicken was a battleground and we were on opposite sides.  Logan is two so he only had to eat two bites of chicken to get to go to Bonkers.  He didn't eat his chicken so Avery and I left him home with daddy while we went to play.  Mom guilt quickly set in as I listened to Logan scream, "I want to go Bonkers.", when Avery and I walked out the door.  It broke my heart to make Logan sad, but I am a big believer in consequences and follow through.  (Of course I sent Luke a text the second I got to Bonkers telling him that I wanted Logan to be with us.  Fortunately, Luke and I are on the same page and Luke stood strong and kept Logan at home.)

Avery and I had a great time playing together and having a little playdate.  After Bonkers, Avery and I decided to pick up frozen custard.  She asked me to get some for Logan.  I complied, but told her Logan could only have the custard if he ate his two pieces of chicken.  We got home and Logan hadn't eaten his chicken.  He wanted ice cream so I told him he needed to eat his chicken.  He sat at the table and ate more peas, but no chicken.  He watched Avery eat ice cream and begged for his own ice cream.  He never at chicken and went to bed without ice cream.  I know, mean mommy.

The next morning, Logan woke up happy, gave me a big kiss and said, "Sorry, mommy.  I don't yike (like) chicken.  Will you please take me Bonkers?"  We still haven't been back, but the next time we had chicken, he ate three bites.  Maybe things are turning around??