Food Fights

Little O has entered a new phase...actually, not so new, it has been going on for a couple of months now. The baby that was once the "best eater" has become an impossible toddler to feed. Dinner time is the official battle field where she and I argue back and forth...whatever she is given to eat, she pushes the plate away with a "no tanks".

What follows depends on my patience...sometimes trying to talk her into eating, sometimes giving her the "eat two bites" option as if she controls her own fate, sometimes using bribery (ice cream bar for dessert), and sometimes I just get mad and basically tell her that if she doesn't eat what she has been given she isn't getting anything else. Nothing seems to work.

The other frustrating component here (that you may have noticed) is the lack of involvement exhibited by Little O's Dad...he chooses to ignore the whole battle most of the time, making his own dinner, eating and hanging out in front of the tv while I fight it out in the dining room. Over the weekend I finally confronted him on the situation and was later lectured on how the problem is that I don't just ask her what she wants and then let her eat her choice as often as she would like to. The lecture on how he knows better and why is only making me more irritated with the entire situation. Are we running a restaurant? She gets to order her dinner now??? I was also told I am way too hard on her and that she will learn to eat what is put in front of her "when she is a little older". When do you suppose that might be? Like we get to just change the rules a few years from now after she has gotten used to having her way all the time...yeah, right.

So...now what? Once again we disagree on how to handle the situation and I am not sure what to do next. I don't want her to develop bad habits or learn that she can get her way if she just whines and goes to her Dad to "order" her dinner. I am at a total loss on how to maintain any control over the situation. Everyone tells me toddlers are difficult to feed, that it is feast or famine, and that you just have to let them eat when they want to. So, am I just over thinking this whole thing? Should I be letting her get her way for now, assuming it is all just a stage that will pass? Is Little O's Dad right? Am I just expecting too much? I have no idea, but I have a feeling that we might be eating a lot of Cheerios around here for a while...