Food Fights

My very first ever battle with a child was my first day of being a parent and it was trying to get my brand new little baby to nurse. So it shouldn't surprise me that 13 years and 4 kids into parenting, food is still sometimes an issue. One night Andrew got up from the table and grabbed his ipad. I was irritated until he flipped it around and started playing the music video Eat It. Our kids did lots of eye rolling, but as parents it was a great moment. We get so tired of food drama. Here is the link to Eat It if you want to play it for your kids. It is pretty fun!

We can apply Love and Logic techniques easily to our dinner time drama. Love and Logic offers the following responses to common problems at dinner.

Problem 1: Child doesn't like what is served? No problem, the next meal will be served.

Problem 2: Child didn't eat, so then they raid the pantry and eat snacks. No problem, the food served at the meal is free. The snacks you just ate cost you money. Feel free to pay in money or toys.

Problem 3: Child is fussing at the table, or has bad table manners. No problem, child is removed from the table and can finish their dinner alone somewhere.


I have come up with a plan for our family to deal with a problem we are having. My kids are messy eaters. I get tired of asking kids to lean over, not spill, and generally not be pigs. So the plan now is whoever has the messiest space at the end of the meal, cleans up the whole table. This doesn't replace the job for the person who clears the table, it is just wiping down the table, chairs and sweeping the floor. I'll let you know how it goes.