Veggie Tales

Vegetables are one of the things in life that Miles detested.

He literally gagged when we would ask him to try some. It's been a struggle to get greens into his mouth since he turned three. I read somewhere that kids develop taste buds for veggies a little later in life and kinda accepted that...myth. But then, I realized (oh what an epiphany) that we just haven't been eating enough veggies and encouraging him enough to eat veggies regularly. One of the problems has been that it's been all too convenient for us to rely on the staples Miles has a palate for--such as Mac n' cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, etc---things you find on a kids menu at restaurant. You get the picture. We've basically been playing restaurant and catering to this kids requests for the sake of ease. We avoided the battle over getting him to eat by making him these convenient meals. The good things is at least he loves fruits. That's kinda what I told myself, making up for his lack of veggies. Anyway, to make a long story short, putting Miles up on veggies and different types of food period--has been the area that we are lacking in as parents. Change is long overdue.

So what are the things we can change? We'll start by going to farmers markets again, so he can see the fresh produce in season and even choose the ones he wants to try. Maybe take him to the local farm with Nanay since she goes to one of them every now and then. Miles is not going to eat veggies if we do not provide enough veggies for him to eat on a more frequent basis. I think it would be cool for him to see where veggies come from or see the farmers who grow them--besides just picking them up in plastic containers at Trader Joe's. Another important thing for us to do, is simply to make sure we have veggies at every meal--not just dinner (what we usually do)--so that it can be the staple in our diet. Justin and I both have to eat more veggies ourselves. We'll do this more as a family, a family effort. 

Second of all, Jus and I have made an oath to stop making Miles his side meals. At thanksgiving, after 3 hours of cooking different dishes, when it was time to eat, Miles looked at the table of food and said, "Can you please make me a jelly sandwich?" The nerve of this kid! That did it. We haven't been consistent in putting our foot down to his side meal requests but never again will we go that route. Our main concern was that we didn't want him to feel hungry ever or starve him. But hey, it's either eat-this-food-or-go-to-bed-hungry-time (wise words I learned from my mom). I totally understand why my mom did what she did when we were picky kids at the table. 

Over the weekend, this issue with food was just reiterated in my conversation with friends and from mom-to-mom. She was descibing her nephew's eating habits and her sisters choices as a parent. As she detailed the situation, I thought--her nephew sounds like Miles and I sound like her sister, having a hand in the picky monsters we've created.

Just over the span of a few days, Miles has already turned his taste buds around but with great effort! Over the weekend, I made soup with the veggies Aunty Xtina gave us. Before I made it, Miles spent some time just observing the way they felt, the colors, the shapes and I explained to him what each veggie provided--as far as vitamins. He even asked to take pictures of them before I chopped them to bits. And for the first time since he was three, he ate a bowl full of nothing but veggies. It was a good moment. He was so proud of himself too. 

And for dinner this evening, he ate Nanay's comfort food, tinola. Now, he doesn't really have a taste for chicken (unless they are in nugget form) but he did eat the green papaya and malungay with rice. And that's all I ask of him really. Just eat the veggies son. It also helps to tell him that "This is Pacquiao's favorite. It will make you strong!" So in between each bite, he is flexing his 4 year old bi-ceps.

Oh I should have stuck to my veggie guns earlier but you know what, better late than never. So far, so good. The veggie tales continue...