Fussy eating - are there signals to watch out for

Occasionally I ask my self 'is my son really a fussy eater or is he just reacting to something we have inadvertently created'.  If you have a fussy foodie or believe you may have one in the making, who is still a 'new kid' on the fussy foodie block then you might find some of these tell-tail signs and symptoms (if I can put it that way without sounding too medical) revealing. 


Now before I start though, one thing I learnt early on in psyche 101 is to be careful not to label behaviours or people; they can be hard to shake once applied (the labels that is) and given life is ever evolving something that sticks isn't likely to always be a plus.


Back to the topic!  One of the earliest behaviours Zach showed in his small but interesting repertoire of food investigation techniques is what I call the 'lip smacking'.  He carefully places the food in question on his lip, often upper lip, removes it (its almost too fast for the human eye) and smacks his lips as if it were lipstick he had applied.  


On further investigation of this technique he tells me that it is to get a small taste of the food without having to put it in his mouth.  I have to confess my assumption is that once it is his mouth it is much harder to back out of eating and swallowing the food if he decides it isn't to his liking.  


I have two lessons from this social experiment.  Firstly, it's fine to 'lip-smack' your food but taste testing is the only way you are going to get a discerning eater (shall we call them for diplomacy sake) to increasing the range of foods they eat.  The remedy is all about overcoming the unknown, or the forgotten in many cases if your son was like mine and once ate everything placed in front of him.


Secondly, if you are not yet at this stage then encouraging real taste-testing is best done in a positive light.  Any negative associations with trialling a food is likely to end in lip smacking as a way of avoiding said situations.  If your child has popped a food into their mouth, then praise and praise more for taking the plunge.  If they dont like it, let it go and consider it an opportunity to educate them on the finer skills of removing offending food without putting everyone off their meal, there are few things worse at dinner than a mound of chewed and spat out food on a dinner plate.


Next, lets see I'll take a look at the smell test and see if we can make sense of that and ways around it.


Stay tuned!
Leanne
Nutritionist mummy blogger, facebooker, tweeter, etc...

How planes make you feel when you are four

We have had a big last few years, and finally we four are about to head away on a long overdue family holiday.  I was trying to rouse interest and asked Samuel (four) if he was looking forward to feeding the dolphins on our holiday.

Samuel:  I don't want to go on the plane

Of course I think to myself, the plane is foremost in our minds when it comes to a beach island holiday...

Me:  But why not?

Samuel:  Because the plane gives me frustration inside my head

Now I can't profess to know what 'frustration inside your head' is all about, but I can tell you that somehow a lollipop or a minty makes it go away.  You have to laugh!

Nose holes

On the way home in the car today Zach was giving another long rundown of some Wii game and some where in that I hear.

Zach:  Mum mynoseholesaredifferent sizes
Me:  Sorry... What did you say?

Zach:  You know my NOSE HOLES Me: Oh right, it sounded like your were talking in a forgein language
Zach: Ugh... Anyway, they are different sizes
Me:  Okay.  That’s pretty normal.  And your nose holes are actually called nostrils.

You have to love the logic of it!

Your bum won't fit mummy

One of my sisters friends from school was chatting on Facebook about her son and some of the embarrassing things he had asked and said.  Kids have a very uncensored way of revealing what's in their head. 

Heath who was 4 and Michelle were waiting their turn in a busy rest room at a local shopping centre.  Finally a toilet became available, it was one of those big ones with an adult and child's toilet to the side.  Heath in his biggest loudest voice to overcome the noise filled room announces...

Heath:  Your big bum won't fit on that toilet mum!

Michelle:  Yeah cheers Heath love, ya darling!

Naturally there were giggles from the room.  It can be hard to escape from a crowded bathroom quick enough to prevent its occupants from assessing your 'assets' in order to make their own decision.

Too funny Michelle!!!  And bye-the-way I remember you as slim and I bet you still are!

:) Leanne xx

Sea monkey marriage

Soon after Christmas Zach became the proud parent of about 10 Sea Monkeys.  Not long after we noticed some had 'coupled-up', Zach describing it as 'getting married'.  One morning after feeding his progeny Zach announced:

Zach:  Oh mum, another two Sea Monkeys have married.  I bet they have children.  They will be so proud.

Me: Yes, I bet they have beautiful babies

About a week later I was looking in on the Sea Monkeys only to find that all except one little Sea Monkey was alive.  I immediately felt saddened for Zach and pondered what I should say when he discovers the Sea Monkey grave yard.  I thought he would be horrified, but latter that day he announced...

Zach:  Oh all he Sea Monkeys are dead, oh wait, there is one.  Then he walked off…

Kids are so robust! 

What kids do during sport

Most mum's will agree that getting any details from your son about what he does at school is like getting 'blood from a stone'.  It was a rare moment, but I managed to get a little info on what Zach does during sport:

Me: What did you do for sport today?

Zach: We did yoda

Me: Oh you mean yoga?

Zach: No yoda, not the Star Wars Yoda; yoda where you make your back a table and then you go into angry cat, you know all stretchy stuff.

Me: Oh right, yoda!  And you sit on the floor with your legs crossed..

Zach: Yer that’s it.

Alternative terminology

We are currently quarantined with the Chicken Pox and every time I hear one of the boys talk about it I laugh because of their interpretation of the term.  It never ceases to amaze me how they can make perfect sense of seemingly non-sensical words.   So here are just a few examples:

Chicken Pops = Chicken Pox

Uncle Peeps  = aka Uncle Petes Toy Shop

Lip stink = Lipstick; so my favourite of them all

Fox tail = aka Foxtel TV

Leo-ardo = Leonardo the Ninja Turtle

Taste bugs = taste buds

Zompees = zombies

Toilet lollies

One of our wonderful consultants El Hogan (photographer), recently had cause to clarify what lollies (sweets) are okay to eat and what are not with her son:

El:  When you're in the boys toilet you are not allowed to eat the trough lollies out of the trough [urinal]!

El's son: Oh sh&^^%t...

What preschoolers think about a blackout

One night Samuel (who had joined us in our bed... again) woke just moments after it went completely black from a power failure.  Sitting bolt up right he asked….

“Are we in Harry Potter?”

Steve Irwin isn’t dead

As I tried to explain to Zach (who was then 3 years old) about the passing of Steve Irwin, he looked at me with such an incredulous look, it was total disbelief.  At that stage I put it down to death being a difficult concept to grasp.  

A few nights later as Zach and I sat watching a news clip of Steve, it was obvious to me why he didn’t believe a word I had said:

Zach:  See I told you Steve Irwin wasn’t dead!

Preschoolers can change gender if they want

Anna (3 ½) is a dear little friend of Sam’s, they went to family day care together.  Jenna our wonderful carer and friend was telling us she occasionally would drive past the children’s houses for various reasons, but would always comment on whose home it was.  ‘Look there’s Declan’s house’ and so on.   


During one of the many snack-time chats, Anna professes to the group that…

“When I was a boy I use to live in Curl Curl”

Death of a family pet; A 4-year-old's take

Our much loved first family pet, Shan the queen of the cats died recently.  Samuel (my 4-year-old) and I were sitting in the back yard lamenting over Shan:

Shan, Queen of the Puddy Cats

Me: I miss Shan...


Samuel: Well then why did you bury her


Somehow the boys always remind me of what life is really about, the time you have together.


Needless to say I felt immediately happier by Samuel's very logical comment.


Savour every moment!