Sometimes I Make 4 Different Meals for Dinner

Hopefully some of you can commiserate.  While the rest of you are probably shaking your head at me as you read this.  But it’s very true, I find myself making 3 or 4 different meals for dinner more often then not. 

Before you judge me too harshly, let me say that my kids do eat their veggies (not brussel sprouts, nobody likes those) but their favorites are carrots, tomatoes, and edamame.  My daughter’s favorite meal is salad.  Romaine and spinach mix, not just iceberg.  And my son absolutely loves my chili – with kidney beans, black beans, bell peppers, onions and ground turkey.  He won’t even add cheese!  (We do though, the cheese is my favorite part!)

But if I’m making a pot roast for dinner and the kids just don’t want to eat it, why would I make every one of us miserable and force them?  I can just as easily throw a salad with some carrot chips together for my daughter (vinaigrette please) and have my husband put together a PB&J for my son and then have leftovers for us!  Everyone wins.

I wasn’t always so nonchalant about dinner time though.  When I first became a stepmom, I was faced with SUPER picky eaters and had no idea what to do.  Establishing good eating habits was (and still is) important to me, so I thought they should just eat what I made.  But I learned quickly, that was not a fight worth having. 

And guess what – it all worked out!  My stepkids are now 19 and 15 and they are good, healthy eaters.  By demonstrating good, healthy eating habits (their mom and us) and by being given options and not being forced to eat things they didn’t want to eat, my stepkids will now eat the meals I make instead of “special kid meals.”  And they did outgrow the stage of not wanting to try new foods.  (Whew!)  Your kids will too, I promise… well, I’m pretty sure. 

For better or worse, our kids eventually do pick up our habits.  So I don’t mind serving leftover mac and cheese to one kid and chicken nuggets to the other if they don’t want the healthier options I’ve prepared for me and their dad. 

To make matters even worse, my husband does really well on a low carb/high fat diet and I usually just try to watch calories and eat lighter (well, except for the cheese on my chili, I can’t quit that).  So, there are several meals we just all eat something different.  And that’s okay!

I’m stressed enough about homeschool, house remodels, a traveling husband and other things in life.  If I can take one fight off my plate by putting ham and cheese and pita chips on my kids plate – I’m definitely going to do it!

Be honest, how many of you make a separate meal for your kids?  How many of you just think I’m crazy??