Oh No! I Have One of "THOSE Kids"!

It used to be (when I was a new mom) that I looked around and saw moms with kids older than mine and thought, "Oh MY kid will NEVER do..." and then I'd fill in the blank on whatever "x" was.

So in the height of my new-mom-arrogance, when I saw older toddlers say, "Ewwww! I don't like that!" in regards to food, I thought, 'Eh...that poor mom. I'm not gonna be like *her*. I'm going to give my kid a variety of foods and he'll learn to like everything!' And this happened. Brendan got used to eating green beans early (his first non-cereal solid), loved green peas, chowed shredded wheat biscuits with gusto, and generally ate whatever we put in front of him with vigour. He even ate frozen (yes, frozen!) green peas, straight from the freezer--as a snack! He used to say, "Mmmm....broc!" (That's "Broccoli is my favourite, Mama!" for those of you who need a translation.)

That is, until he turned 3 years and 2 months old. "What's so magical about this age?" you might ask. I have no earthly idea. All of my new-mother-bravado is gone--I'm just like the rest of the moms out there. I now have one of "THOSE kids" who say, "Ewwww...I don't like that!" about *everything*, even things that are perennial favourites. Seriously--macaroni & cheese, THE BOXED KIND, gets this response! Broccoli, the favourite vegetable in the world, gets it. Even a pb&j on a different-looking wheat bread gets it. I cannot figure this out. My healthy-eater is now PICKY! My child who used to scarf down Shredded Wheat now looks at them with suspicion--as if I'm trying to POISON HIM! When did this happen? When did my child become one of "THOSE kids"? What about my ability to mother? What will become of me? What if they don't put my name in the book of "World's Greatest Mothers" under the category "Her Kids Ate Everything"?

Now with all kidding aside, absolutely nothing has changed in our home. We still have vegetables with dinner every night, I do not give in to Brendan's food-whims, and he either eats 7 bites of what's in front of him or he doesn't get his reward for not having accidents during the day (a handful of m&ms). The same things that have gone on since he was able to eat table food. So it's not like we've changed tracks and I only recently started to shove veggies down my child's throat. And typically when he says, "Ewww...." I'll tell him to take one bite. When he does this, he generally says, "YUM! I like this!" And occasionally we get a, "Oh YUMMY! It's my favourite!" But only after taking that requisite bite.

So I've concluded that this must be a phase. A phase that all mothers are cursed with as their toddlers develop a great sense of taste and recoil at the poison we put down every day and looks different than a package of fruit snacks. For if my child could survive on "animal fruit snax" from Sam's Club, I'm convinced he would. In the meantime, I'll try to stuff my snobbery and realize that every stage has a new challenge and that the optimism/arrogance that comes with new children will probably hit me again with Amanda. And then again with Arwen. And probably again with Sean...and Lucie...and Ian.

It's a good thing these posts are archived so I can go back and read them when I need them next time! ;)