I Can’t Believe It Worked!
The other night I was over it – my boy flat out refused to eat his dinner and I fought with him in a major way. You can read all about it HERE.
I was inundated with comments and suggestions on what to do – and a few of you touched on a possible solution for me; Ignore him. Praise the other.
So basically, ignore the non-eater, and praise the eater.
So I did that. My daughter would get my FULL attention while she ate; and I spoke to her and engaged with her, with my head turned away from my boy.
He got annoyed, and then started wanting me to talk to him, and look at him. So instead of giving him my attention straight away, I said “I’ll talk to you when you have eaten some dinner” … AND IT BLOODY WELL WORKED.
I can’t believe it.
Perhaps I was in a better mood, and happier. Perhaps it was the technique.
Whatever.
It worked. He ate his ENTIRE dinner. And the dinner was EXACTLY the same as the night before.
And you know what – we had fun. We laughed, we clapped, we yelled “pakipaki” (Maori for clap). We played games.
Most importantly – I was relaxed. I didn’t care.
As per YOUR recommendations – chill out Maria. You are in control. Ignore the non eater (SHUN THE NON BELIEVER … bonus points if you get that reference) … praise the eater …
Let nature do it’s work.
So this is my message to you: I have no idea what the fuck works for making kids eat. But keep trying. Try different things. What works for me, might not work for you.
SOMETHING WILL WORK, EVENTUALLY.
Kia kaha … we’re all in this together.
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