Thursday, January 31, 2013

Intentional Lying... this is what is has come down to!

I didn't realize that I had been holding my breath...

Holy SH$T!  He went for it!!!  My son, actually ate it.  And liked it.  It felt like a dream come true.  Like I had won the lottery.

*Disclaimer*
You very well might judge me for what you are about to read...

When Chephren was little he would eat everything.  And I mean everything.  He had an insatiable appetite.

Cute little dude, wasn't he?
And then he turned two.  And he discovered that his locus of control didn't lie entirely outside of himself...  And man did he take that realization to heart... and he continues to until this day!

Now there are some wonderful things about raising a child who is so strong-willed... I think.  There must be.  Hmmm... I guess that I will have to get back to you on this one.

The point being, if Chephren sees some way/shape/form that he can exert some control over his environment, he takes it.  Since the age of two, food has become one of his primary targets.

To say that his dietary preferences are extremely limited is an understatement.  Does he eat fruits/veggies?  Sure.  About 4 different varieties of them.  Seriously.

Remember this?  Hiding veggies under the couch.

As you may/may not recall... I am a vegetarian.  I prepare/consume around 10-15 different varieties of fruits/vegetables myself... daily.  To say that this behaviour of my son's pushes my buttons is also a very large understatement.

Playing with the contents of my Organic Box :)
Until now, I would have said that I had tried EVERYTHING to sort this thing out...  I have tried to take him shopping with me and choose which fruits/veggies he will eat.  I have found and read him children's books about the importance of healthy eating.  I have downloaded apps on the iPad that relate to healthy eating.  I have modelled (and continued to model) the behaviour that I desire to see instead.  In times of desperation, I have even tried to bribe and/or punish him to get him to eat his vegetables.

I know, I know.  This is an age-old (and first world) problem.

Quite a while back, I had heard about Jessica Seinfeld's approach (hiding pureed fruits/veggies in your child's favourite dishes, including treats) from a friend of mine.  I had considered it then but decided that I didn't want to deceive Chephren.  I wanted him to develop a taste for healthy food that would set the stage for a lifetime of healthy eating.

On the one hand, I tell myself that maybe I should let it go and not worry so much.  After all, at his last yearly check-up, it was confirmed for me that he continues to do very well in terms of his development.  He is (and always has been) in the 95th percentile for height and weight, and is reaching or exceeding all of his developmental milestones.  On the other hand, he is currently battling his FOURTH illness of this nasty cold/flu season.  I have him on multi-vitamins and yet, I have to question if he would be more resilient to illness if he ate better.

Extremely frustrated with this last bout of illness (and currently sleep deprived, so maybe not thinking clearly), I have decided to try the Jessica Seinfeld plan.

The first recipe I tried was one for carrot-cake cupcakes.  In the batch of 12 there was a full 1.5 cups of pureed veggies (I used carrots and sweet potato).  The rest of the recipe was pretty healthy as well, not a lot of fat or sugar.



And you already know what happened.  He ate it... and loved it.

Maybe you are saying, "So what's the problem?"

Well, in my upcoming book FIERCE Integrity: A Course in Living Your Truth, there is a section on the subject of intentional lying.  And that is exactly what this is.

In the book I suggest that people do a self-check in before consciously telling a lie.  I tell them to ask themselves, honestly and with Integrity:

"What is my intention?  Is it to do no harm?"

Obviously my intention here is to do what I feel is in the best interest of my son.

I will let you know how some of the rest of the "experiments" turn out.  (I have already screwed up the sweet potato pancake recipe - they all came out raw in the middle).

Despite the failed pancake attempt, I am celebrating the cupcakes.  For now, I am calling this one a win.

If you have any insights/ideas on this topic, I would love to hear them!

M.

Ok, one more photo... saw this on Facebook and it was too cute not to share:








2 comments:

  1. Well... I must admit I am guilty of this particular crime with CatMan. The man has this weird thing about vegetables, but I have discovered that in reality his dislike of vegetables is more a state of mind than one of taste buds.

    I've hidden spinach, chard and shredded zucchini (all things he would NEVER eat) in lasagna, omelettes, casseroles, chili, soup, and any other dish where I have a reasonable chance of disguising it.

    And you know what? As long as I don't mention the fact that there are vegetables in there, he LOVES it and even asks for seconds! But if I let it slip accidentally, he instantly decides he doesn't like it.

    I've also had success by finding ways to prepare veggies so they don't seem quite so "veggie like" to him. I make "salads" that have small chunks of snap peas, tomatoes, peppers & cucumbers... most of which he thinks he doesn't like... so that part of the salad is all "pre-mixed" with a thick yogurt/Parmesan dressing. Then I put the black olives and avocado slices (both of which he loves) uncovered on top of a bed of the other stuff, and he loves it.

    I've even gotten him to eat green beans, asparagus, cauliflower and even broccoli by roasting it in olive oil & garlic with a hefty layer of Parmesan cheese on top. This works best if I give the side dish some mysterious name rather than calling it "roasted green beans" or something like that.

    I don't consider it "lying" per se... I just don't think it's necessary to divulge the ingredient list of every recipe I serve!

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    1. HAHAHAHA! Synchronicity! As you were typing this to me last night, Trent and I were having a discussion about how he is on board with me 'deceiving' Chephren but how he doesn't want to have to eat that same stuff!!! Le Sigh. Sometimes I honestly feel like I have two children. (But then again, I know that he definitely could say the same thing about me...) Thanks for the great tips as well. When I met Trent he wouldn't even eat salad and now he has a huge heaping bowl of it every night. We literally get 7-10 veggies/fruits nightly in our salad alone, so I guess he's right, he might not need the main course 'additions'... but, hey, it's not gonna hurt him, right?

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