Hats off to all the parents of small kids
they are great years, but I’m kind of relieved that’s all behind me now
So what’s changed? When I was growing up, tea was when parents said it was, and it was what parents said it was. I did not get a say in it, and I ate it. I don’t remember even thinking it was a bad thing. Of course if I could choose I’d have pizza every day and even as a child I probably knew that would not have been a good idea. As long as I have memories, which would have been about four, that’s how it was. The only times I was so hungry I thought I was going to die was on the rare occasion we’d go out to a restaurant and eat at like 8 or something, on a normal day I’d be in bed by then.
There were a few things I genuinely didn’t like, and I wasn’t force-fed or anything, but you develop a surprisingly tolerant palette when being fussy just leaves you hungry.
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Private chef is the only way I’d say.
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I know a paediatrician and if the kids don’t eat their dinner then they get it for breakfast the next morning and then for lunch if they don’t eat it then and so on. (I’m sure he stops when it gets mouldy) Not for me, that.
Yeah.
I remember my mum making a some kind of beef stew regularly. I hated it, but I never ever told her, so I would just feel really upset for hours or whatever beforehand, then grudgingly eat it 
my memories are a bit hazy of all this - and please feel free to tell me to fuck off with my advice (not aimed at Theo, or anyone in particular, just parents of small kids in general)
Small kids get overwhelmed with choice. Choice of food, what to do, what to watch, when to sleep, what to wear. It’s much easier for everyone if they get used to not having that much of a choice in the 1st place
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It’s about the consistency. When the meat is raw, it has this sort of mushy consistency, right? And the texture physically looks different. When it’s cooked it goes firmer. If you’re frying you can see the consistency change, if you’re not sure just cut a piece open and see what it looks like.
A chicken fillet diced into pieces much larger than the ones you have will only take about ten minutes, you need to turn it over a couple of times so it cooks all sides and doesn’t just burn one side. Use a small amount of oil or the meat will stick to the pain. If cooking fattier meets you don’t really need the oil.
Also much better to shallow fry fresh meet like this than chicken dippers, jfc.
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She doesn’t always like it and leaves some. I’m trying gto be a good dad!
I was the same with my mum’s liver, which she cooked regularly, but wouldn’t dream of cooking now - so very very dry
always ate it
Would a possible solution be to stop giving her a choice as to what she wants?
I know that your child is older than the example in the link I’m about to give you, but when we were being driven crazy a few months ago (he went from a voracious eater of ANYTHING you put in front of him to suddenly being picky) a friend sent me this link. And it’s worked brilliantly. I choose what meal he is getting and put it down. No more cooking three things and them all ending up in the bin. If he refuses his dinner and then compains that he’s hungry later on, he can have it cold, failing which he can have fruit and toast, or a fucking flapjack for all I care. he won’t starve, and he won’t get scurvy (vitamin and omega 3 gummies are v helpful for lazy parenting/ reassurance.)
See if it might work for you-
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This is one of the biggest things that Supernanny used to reinforce, children like routine and get bewildered and confused if given too many choices (not saying Theo is doing that, but may be why a lot of children act up at meal times).
she probably just copied me TBH
Yep. Link below is basically this. Stop giving kids all the power. If you must give choices, don’t make it open ended , i.e. ‘what do you want for tea?’
make it a closed option- ‘you can have fish fingers or omelette, pick now’.
I mean she’d just say neither.
Well, I think the Swedish model is predicated on two things;
- the rather naive assumption that no child in Sweden is actually at risk of starvation
- that children should never, under any circumstances, be forced into doing anything they don’t want to do
…the latter obviously rendered ridiculous by the law that states they all must attend school
That’s abuse
Really, you’ve never known anyone who can knock up a stir fry?! There’s a difference between shallow frying and deep frying. Shallow frying uses barely any oil and it remains in the pan afterwards.
If you’re eating ‘bung it in the oven for 20 minutes’ type food then it’s probably pre-cooked and much of it will have been fried.
haha! She’s a strong willed girl. I admire that and you should nurture it, But honestly, mealtimes need to work for everybody in the family and that includes you and L. We got fed up being ruled my a small chubby sticky fisted dictator and I got mean. The methodology is not perfect, but he knows now that he gets what I put down or just a boring snack later (he gets toast at nursery as a morning snack so it’s not like it’s a treat he;'s holding out for.)
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And then they asked for edamame.
No they didn’t
Stir-fry’s are fucking muck.
I mean breaded chicken, as in the pic. I’d never fry that, it’d absorb all the fat.
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