How mums wish there was a magic formula to get their children to eat the right, nutritious food

Fixing supper for the fussy eater

My child is a very fussy eater. What do I do to get him/her to eat food?' So how many times have you heard this from mums, and how many times have you said it yourself? This is one problem which all mums can identify with, and are struggling to find answers for. I have yet to come across one mum who is satisfied with her child's eating habits. And the same goes for me. I am still struggling to come up with the right formula to get my kids to eat their food. With food I mean the right, nutritious healthy option. Seriously, I would like to find out from mums who are reasonably satisfied with their child's eating habits — what do you do? How do you do it? I knew my struggles had begun from the moment the doctor told me I should introduce semi-solid food in my son's diet. So the mashed bananas, potatoes other assorted fruits and vegetables were introduced, one at a time. Amazingly, he had the same reaction to all the food that was introduced to him, which was to throw up all over me. This was just the beginning of my uphill task. I immediately SOSed all my friends who were mums and my family to understand how to make meals a fun time for both mother and son, as it was pretty evident that he was not enjoying it one bit and neither was I. Lots of suggestions, easy recipes came my way. And as soon as he seemed to savour a particular food introduced to him that became his staple diet for weeks to come, and sometimes, feeling extremely happy about it, I would end up over feeding him only to console him all night/day when he bawled because of acidity, constipation or loose motions. Soon enough, when he started talking and expressing his choices we managed to end the day-to-day tussle and a comfortable food pattern was reached. But as a mother, the battle to get him to choose a healthier option over the other options available is still a struggle. Honestly, I am tempted to give in to what he wants, in exchange of some peace of mind, and am guilty of doing that at times. So just when I thought I had crossed the ultimate mummy hurdle and was patting myself on the back arrived baby number two. I was pretty clear that I would show her who the boss is and would definitely not repeat the mistakes I had made with my son. To be fair, she was a no trouble baby, and just when I was considering myself lucky, she too started asserting her food choices — what she wanted to eat and what she would absolutely not eat. And the struggle began afresh. I always wonder how they manage to find the food at home spicy, but can gobble a packet of spicy chips without complaining. How do they manage to easily find a stomach big enough to finish an entire pizza, but struggle to finish one roti or a bowl of rice with dal? Pasta polished off in a jiffy, while the vegetables wait endlessly in the plate to get over. The days when I know what I am serving will not be much liked, I have only Anita Renfroe's The Mum song playing in the head which goes like this: Would appreciate/Take a bite/Maybe two/Of the stuff you hate/Use your fork/Do not burp/Or I'll set you straight/Eat the food I put upon your plate.