A few weeks ago when my dad was here for a visit, we sat outside in the 100 degree heat shucking corn. Of course Lily was very interested in it. So interested, in fact, that she wanted to eat it raw. I wasn't too sure how her stomach would like that, so I quickly cooked it and put a tiny bit of butter and salt on it. Then she wouldn't eat it because she couldn't hold onto it, too slippery. So I ate the ends to give her "handles" and she loved it. Now we can't keep her away from it and it's hilarious to watch her eat it.One of the most stressful things for me when it comes to parenting, is feeding my daughter. It's stressful because I worry that she's not eating enough, or not eating enough of the right things. I worry that she might have some of the same allergies her dad has, gluten and tomatoes. I worry because half the time she doesn't eat at all, but feeds her food to her pal, Dizzy instead. I worry because so often she gets more of the food on her than in her, and it seems like she enjoys that. I know many of my worries are shared by other parents out there, and that I worry about things that are normal for a kid her age, but it still stresses me out.
Seeing her pick food from the garden makes me take a step back and realize, this kid loves food. She loves to play with it, yes, but she loves to eat it too, especially when she picks it herself like the strawberries, peas, plums and tomatoes from our garden. Already she loves fresh, local, organic produce; what more could I want?
I've struggled with getting both my kids to eat. My first, at 14 months, decided to stop eating and went from the 95% to the 5% within about 2 months. He now is a great eater with a voracious appetite who loves all manner of things.
ReplyDeleteMy second lives on a diet of raw milk and homemade wholewheat pancakes fortified with lots of farm fresh eggs. I can't wait for him to try new things but I don't push him.
Lily looks like she is well on her way to being a great eater - thanks to your organic garden!