The Little Dipper

"I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God's business."

Michael J. Fox (supposedly...internet quotes are so unreliable).

One of the many odd sterotypes I have confirmed as a mom is that little kids have strange eating habits. It's one thing to read or hear someone complain about how their kid won't eat, but it's quite another to try day after day, meal after meal, to feed a child in a manner that will get him decent nutrition and not drive you both crazy. Nothing prepares you for the reality of a little person who loves something one day and won't touch it the next.

There are certain things you can usually depend on a kid to eat, and though they vary for individuals, they tend to fall into the bread-and-chicken nugget food group. I guess it makes sense. But some things just puzzle me utterly. Mac n cheese, that staple of kid's diets worldwide? Spencer used to eat it just fine. But right now he won't.

Let me interject here that I do not cater to his whims. My basic strategy is to offer him what 'the family' is going to eat, and let him choose what to do from there. I do try to make sure there is at least one item on the menu that I think he'll eat, and I tend to offer snacks that he likes. My theory is if we keep offering choice and variety, without making a big deal about any food being 'good' or 'bad', then he will eventually get comfortable with more foods and have a healthy attitude about eating in general. But it seems like lately the list of foods he will reliably eat just keeps dwindling. So maybe I need to reevaluate that whole philosophy.

I haven't yet been able to identify any rhyme or reason to why he rejects things. He doesn't mind his food touching, and in fact usually scrambles everything on his plate into an unholy mess. He will eat anything and everything served to him at Pepitos, but at home will rarely eat a single bite of quesadilla or refried bean.

He used to eat fruit, most any kind. No longer. Bananas used to be a sure hit. Not anymore. And it's not because I let him get tired of them, because I rarely give him more than one a week. I read or heard somewhere that they can contriubte to constipation...another food-related struggle. But anyway...sometimes he will swallow the random bit of pineapple, but more often if fruit does wind up in his mouth then I eventually have to fish it out of his cheek myself.

Which brings me to one trick I have discovered that seems to help. Sort of. He loves to dip things. If not for various parenting magazines, I would think this was something he got from his father's family, who never met a condiment they did not like (except mayo, which is a topic for another day). But apparently this is common toddler behavior. Spencer is now familiar with and asks for by name: ketchup, honey mustard, BBQ sauce, fruit dip, and probably some I have forgotten. He even asked for and got to try some hot sauce DH was using, and did not make the slightest complaint. But we weren't sure how much of it actually got into his mouth.

This dipping business is all fine and dandy, especially if he enjoys his meals more as a result. The problem is just that it can be hard to watch, because he will dip anything into anything. The other day he gleefully ate honey-mustard covered banana while I tried to avert my eyes. It grosses me out a but, plus it offends my sense of...propriety I suppose.

The pictures have nothing to do with today's post, I just have not been taking many lately and these are the most recent. The top shows Spencer helping me shop for mattresses, and the other was taken to celebrate his successful ascent of a giant backyard climbing toy.