Solutions for Picky Eaters

We have been struggling a bit lately with picky eaters. Penny has essentially the same three meals every day. Sure, there's a little rotation since there are three or four veggies she'll eat and there's only two meals a day where I serve veggies, but it's pretty much the same menu every time. I've settled into a rut with Paul too, which is sad because it's a little early to get him onto the picky path. It was just easy having a set menu instead of trying to come up with new finger foods all the time.

When Penny picked up one of the suggested books for the NYPL summer reading program, I found it remarkably inspirational - Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban. In the book, Frances chooses to eat bread and jam instead of her various meals. Mom, sick of having Frances leave the food she's served and thinking she's got a clever idea, then feeds Frances exclusively bread and jam for every meal. I won't ruin the ending for you...go and read the book at your local library with the kids.

In any case, the situation resonated with me and reminded me of dinners at Grandma's house. No matter what the meal, there was always a little plate piled with bread and a jar of peanut butter. If there was pot roast, hand made mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans with butter, there was a jar of peanut butter and bread; lasagna and garlic bread, some plain white slices accompanied by the familiar jar of peanut butter. I never knew why it was there, though I often enjoyed its presence. I LOVE peanut butter and would often end my meal with a little peanut butter sandwich (or a gravy sandwich if that was one of the available items). Reading the Frances story finally helped me put the pieces together. My grandmother had 10 kids in 20 years. She had no time to prepare individual meals for each of her kids as I still struggle to do. She made one meal and whoever didn't like it had that peanut butter sandwich option available to them. It's a reasonably nutritious and certainly delicious backup that works at pretty much any meal. I imagine it led to a considerable amount of sanity compared to what I'm currently putting myself through.

Since spring I have tried to feed Penny and Paul the same things more often, with mixed success. They're still calling for substitutions, which often keeps me from even sitting down to dinner before they finish. Perhaps employing some of my grandmother's ideas will help me survive a bit better.

PS: I DO feed my children things other than cakes and chocolate pies...dinner is just such a struggle most days that I don't have any pictures of it. Wish me luck!