Thursday, January 26, 2012

"I don't like mac 'n cheese. It's very yuck-able."


My oh-so-picky eater Sammy proclaimed, out of the blue, "I don't like mac 'n cheese. It's very yuck-able." We had just finished a lunch that did NOT include macaroni and cheese. We chose the much more nutritionally sound popcorn, string cheese, and apple sauce. :)

Not Sammy, but this kid is obviously not impressed with the veggies.
My husband and I both enjoy a very adventurous palate and offer a large variety of foods at most meals. But Sammy refuses to even allow most foods onto his plate, let alone into his mouth. Jacob would eat anything, and did, and could be easily coerced into trying a couple of bites of a new food, even if he didn't want to. Not so with The Sam.

Now, don't give me all that talk about "he'll eat when he's hungry" and "he won't starve himself" and the like. He ate NOTHING for two days once because I would fix only foods that he had not and would not try like; mac&cheese, hamburgers, grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn. You know, incredibly exotic foods like that. I gave in half-way through day three when he sat sullenly refusing to even look at his plate. I realized that I simply canNOT force the child to eat. I already knew that children cannot be forced to potty or sleep, so I just added eat to that list, as well.

Sammy has a will of iron. He will not follow along with other children unless he wants to do so. He will not simply agree with adults if they try to trick him into believing something. If he believes something to be true, or false, be prepared to offer overwhelming evidence IN WRITING to try to change his point of view. And no, that does not work with food. I've tried it. I wrote a list of foods that he was to eat. He just crossed off the foods he does not like and told me, "Now the list is correct." If Sammy doesn't like something, he proclaims it to be "too yuck," and it then becomes "yuck-able." If he does like a food, it is proclaimed, "yummy," or, if he REALLY likes it, it is "too yumm."

Sammy and me
You see what I'm dealing with here? And the strange thing is, this all seems so very familiar... Oh yeah, I know why. I see myself in Sammy. He struggles with the same issues and sins over and over and over again. And you know what? I struggle with the same issues and sins over and over and over again. I get frustrated with Sammy about the same stuff all the time, and God must feel the same way about me. I have to force myself to remember that even though Sammy keeps getting in trouble for the same things, it is my job to gently guide him to do right, over and over and over again. Just like God gently guides me to do right, over and over and over again. My "yuck-able" behavior must be turned into "too yumm." It is my job to hug Sammy and love him and guide him to keep turning toward God, and never away from God, and to help Sammy develop a relationship with God that is definitely "too yumm."

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