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Last month I wrote about my candy controlling issues.  Tonight as we arrived home from the ward party, Isaac handed me the unopened bag of candy that Santa gave him and asked me if I would add it to the candy container in the pantry. I didn’t even have to  sneak it away when he wasn’t looking!  If the story ended here it would have been great, but he actually changed his mind when he saw his sister open her bag of candy and pull out a few pieces, so he came to me and asked for it back.  After eating only a piece or two he gave it back and told me to put it up.  Charlotte, on the other hand ate several pieces and cried when her dad took it away.

I am fairly proud of the fact that my kids actually enjoy healthy food.  I remember a text message from Zach while I was in class one time where he said he had given Charlotte a choice between Marshmallow Mateys and broccoli and he was astounded when she chose the broccoli.  When I worked at the Jr. High I saved a piece of fruit from my lunch everyday to eat with the kids after school.  They loved this tradition.  They love fruits and vegetables and ask for them as snacks.  They have also started choosing the fruit juice snacks over the candy when they earn a treat with their chores.  They even really like salad.  Sometimes if we haven’t had it in awhile, they’ll eat 3 or 4 servings of salad in a day.  Isaac finished his entire salad at the ward dinner tonight and asked for more before eating his other food.

One thing I always do is give them their vegetables first.  Like at lunch time, I start by preparing the healthiest parts of their lunch first and serve it to them as I continue to prepare the rest of lunch.  If they are impatient waiting for dad to get home for dinner, I give them only the vegetables and they happily eat them as they wait for dad.

The other thing that my doctor suggested is that when I introduce solids, I always start with green vegetables first and that I continue feeding them the green vegetables until they like them before introducing sweeter food such as fruit.  My pattern is rice cereal, green beans, peas, carrots, squashes, sweet potatoes, fruits.  I don’t know if this is the reason my kids like their greens so much, but it certainly doesn’t hurt so I’ll continue doing it.