parenting eats.

when you are parenting eats are a big deal. not only are you nourishing your child, but aiding in their development. i must admit, what i am going to feed my child? was a more stressing dilemma than whether or not i was going to cloth diaper or extend breastfeed. i didn't really expect that at all! there was a time when i thought that my child will only be eating local organic produce and non processed foods. of course it was only because wanted the best for my child. as i got in to the swing of things i realized that this was going to be no easy task... i stressed out over every choice i made

i think a lot of people forget that there is a psychological aspect to food also, to the parents and child. not only is this affecting the child, but the parents also. feeling guilt for not being able to give your child the best, stress to find the healthiest meals, alternatives to ordinary meals, finding time to cook a good well rounded meal, the list can go on and on! i was glad that attachment parenting touched on this because i don't think that a lot of parenting philosophies do. when i was working at the day care, i was still in that 'clean your plate' mentality. my boss would make children sit until they finished at least a bite of everything and i thought that was the best thing to go for a child. when i read about the AP principle of feeding with love and respect my eyes opened up. i thought, it doesn't HAVE to be that way. just like cosleeping, there had to be a way where i could let my son eat without having to make whirly noises, shove yucky wallpaper paste down jake's throat while making choo choo train out of a spoon while paul laughed and took silly pictures that we would hang on the mantle for his future girlfriend to see.

the more i read and researched i thought more about respecting all aspects of food, the good, bad, and the ugly. by withdrawing some types of food because of their tastes (such as sweets) i realized i maybe skipping the lesson in 'everything in moderation', putting sweets in a sort of pedestal that could control his eating habits. so by researching further - i decided to baby led wean my son. i don't know if that's the reason why but he loves food and treats food with respect. i don't really keep him away from sweets, at the same time i make sure all sorts of foods are available. i am amazed by the fact that he balances all these things at 18 months. he doesn't beg for a certain food because he knows it will be available to him at a later time. he could be eating a marshmallow, and the next minute a tomato, then some broccoli, then some cereal. to him its all the same, the marshmallow doesn't have any significance as a 'sweet' food or a reward... its just food and has a squishy texture.

i hope he continues to have this respect for all things food, salty, sweet, sour, and even the yucky. what adventure in food will we encounter next?