Kids and Food

My mom's attitudes on food have greatly influenced me, how I serve food, plan meals and incorporate as little waste as possible when it comes to the food budget.

To this day, if my mom has a full plate of food in front of her, her appetite shuts down and she is full before she takes her first bite. An overwhelming amount of food for a child must be the same thing. So whenever I serve food, I take the child and their appetite into consideration. I encourage the kids to try everything but it doesn't take long to find out which are favorites and not. So I downsize the least favorite foods (until they acquire a taste for it) and give a little more of the favorites. The rule at my lunch table is that once you finish your first helping, you can ask for whatever you want (that was on the lunch menu). But you must finish your first helping first.

Color is another thing I take into account when I plan a menu. I try to have a colorful array of foods but every now and again it seems that we end up with a 'beige' colored meal. Sometimes, appearance can make or break an appetite. Though we have had had a few 'theme' colored meals/snacks when quite accidentally, all the food ended up being a shade of orange.

Meal times are a perfect time to focus on manners. Throughout the day, I don't hear all and see all and in the rush of getting things done, I don't notice manners quite as much. Manners at the table are essential. Please, thank you, no thank you, excuse me, learning to chew with their mouths closed and keeping the foolishness at the table to a minimum are all things I enforce. Every day.

Boys and girls can have quite a different take on how they approach food. It seems that boys favor eating only to fuel their bodies. Or else, it is a competition - who can eat the most, the fastest. Girls (sometimes) on the other hand seem to associate food with socializing. I had one group of girls that sat at the table until the food was gone, visiting and eating as long as there was food to nibble on. Then there are the finicky eaters (boys and girls). I try not to give any extra attention to the finicky eater. I make their portions smaller and am very conscious of their favorite and least favorite foods, so I don't make a bad situation worse. I had one child in particular that got a lot of attention at home, for her fussiness and she tried very hard to get the same attention here. I wouldn't play into it and her eating habits did improve.

I try very hard to make kid-friendly meals and snacks. I was a very fussy eater as a child so I can empathize with those that are fussy. I try to (unknowingly to the child) accommodate this, by choosing menus according to the likes and dislikes of the kids that I have coming that day. But on the whole, I try to have a 'neutral' foods (breads/fruits) that will fill their hunger in the case of not liking other parts of the lunch. I admit that I rely on many old stand by's that most kids like, but I am thrilled when I find a group of kids that enjoy the hamburger casseroles and soups that are full of healthy food choices. I make sure that I have every food group represented at the lunch table and I try to keep the snacks relatively healthy and with a minimal sugar content.

Wasting food is something I avoid at every cost. I keep the servings small, horseplay at the table is a definite no-no (to avoid spills and choking ... plus, it drives me crazy) and my mantra is 'eat over your plate' so the food falls on their plate - not on the floor. I cook amounts according to the number of kids, appetites and my ability to utilize the leftovers for supper or my son's school lunch the next day. I'm pretty proud of the amount of food that goes to waste. Very, very minimal - which is also very good for my budget.

I doubt that the kids I take care of, go home raving about the meals that I serve. But I do think that for the most part, the parents are happy and no one goes home hungry.