Bread and Jam for Audrey

If you know Audrey at all, you know that she is a very picky  selective eater.  It is easier to list the food she will eat then not.  Her main diet consists of PB &J, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, cottage cheese, yogurt, cereal, mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets (but not the ones that TASTE like chicken)  We use to have a real battle at dinnertime.  She would sit in her chair all evening refusing to eat or keeping one bite in her mouth without chewing it.  I was torn between two schools of parenting,the "My way or the highway" or  "Choose your Battles".  We tried putting our foot down.  Tim would wrap up her untouched dinner and serve it the next day.  I realized very quickly that Audrey can be just as stubborn as mommy. Parenting is about adjusting to each individual child. It's true that each child is different.

Instead of strife and butting heads all day I decided to take the "Francis" route.  In the book "Bread and Jam for Francis" Francis refuses any food but bread and jam.  Sounds familiar. Most dinners now consist of PB&J sandwiches.  I am not the best cook in the world, but how can she eat a sandwich night after night when there is such good food being eaten around her?  I guess I want to prove to her (and to me) that she is capable of eating real food at dinner time.

This week I have hatched up a plan.  Audrey has wanted a "Dora swimming Mermaid" for a while now.    I was planning on getting it for her birthday this year.  Instead I struck a deal with her.  If she eats our "real" food at dinner time for 1 week I will go and buy that Dora doll for her.  No matter what it is, she has to eat her portion starting tonight.  She is excited about it while the jury is out with me.  She HATES chicken.  Guess what tonight's meal is....you guessed it, Chicken Parmigiana.  I promise I did not plan it this way.  I make my meals out ahead of time.  Tonight I will find out how serious she is about this.  She swears up and down that she will do it no matter what.  So I placed little "A"s on the calendar that she can check off as she progresses through the week.

I believe that Audrey can do whatever she sets her mind to.  She is an amazing little girl.  So here's to Friday and a full week of eating dinner with the family.