What type of mom are you?

BrieLP

My fiance and I only get our boys every other weekend and only have them for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, i try to make easy/fast meals for them but they always like it.... Our 4 year old is a picky eater he doesn't like a lot of veggies so i make sure i make the ones I know he likes, our 2 year old is a garbage dispossal and will eat ANYTHING!!!!

I guess I'm a mean step-mom because I make them eat it even if they doesn't like it. My parents did that to me and i turned out alright.. granted i don't eat any kind of bean (other than green beans)

MsNewBooty83

i cater more to their tastes at dinner time, but i make the base of the meal something we all eat, like chicken. then ill make them pasta and use my chicken with spinach and salsa in a wrap. that sort of thing, im not too much of a stickler when it comes to food, i dont force feed them, we drink alot od smoothies and they loooove to help make them, or any other food for that matter. i find allowing them to be involved help the eating part go a little more smoothly! lol

jenniet04

I'll ask their input on what they want for dinner, but I only cook one meal. I don't have the time to make 6 different meals for each of us.

AlsDonkBoxSquat

I cook what I cook and he has 2 choices, eat it or don't eat. He's not very finicky so he usually just eats what I serve. If he doesn't eat it that meal it gets wrapped up and he sees it the next meal. He's 3, he tells me I don't like squash and then a week later he tells me yumm, i love squash . . . so I serve him and he learns to eat it and like it.

BeingAwesome247

My kid prefers fresh fruit & veggies over McDonalds, so when I let him grab whatever he wants, I never have to worry.

That being said, I make dinner for the two of us... If it's clearly something very adult that he wouldn't like (I like to cook fancy), I will make him something more simple. You can easily prepare two chicken breasts two different ways

Give & Take.

Same for my daughter and I
She likes salads and fish but isn't all about mommy's brown rice & black bean creations hahaha
She's very much a soup & salad person, which is awesome for me!

SIDENOTE: My last boyfriend had two kids and I have one; when I would make "family dinners" for all 5 of us, there wasn't a choice. The kids ate what I made them...but being just 2 of us...meals are casual things

PlunderBunneh

They eat healthy. The only meal we eat together is dinner, and that is usually whatever I'm making for myself. However, on nights where I'm making something spicy, they get a toned down version. They don't have to eat it, but they do have to try at least three bites, and if it's obvious that they aren't pulling my leg and they really don't like it, there might be a bit of wiggle room to have a sandwich instead.
My girls are 5yo and 3yo. If they could choose, they wouldn't eat anything but waffles, yogurt, and peanut butter jelly sandwiches.

Alex_is_Hawks

i have one child....one....so my answer is very different than say someone who has 5 kids (like my mom)

my mom was i make it you eat it kind of mom....like i said she had five kids and we couldn't agree on anything and some of us were even spiteful (gasp) and would pick something else JUST to spoke another kids wheel....

my daughter is one child...so she gets to pick and have a say. I do negotiate the health aspects of it...she doesn't get to say "I'll take A & W five days a week" but she does get to help menu plan and she does have a say in what goes with what...tomato house salad with steak and steamed broccoli with chicken for example..

we also have a "treat" meal every week....and she COULD have whatever she wanted for that dinner, take out, chinese, breakfast for dinner, whatever she wants....she ALWAYS picks a sit down dinner in a nice restaurant with me..."so we can go out and have a nice dinner and visit" she says....

she's adorable and i'm glad I can give her that level of social interaction she desires.

Lauren

Hayleighs_mom

My daughter is turning 2 this month and can be a bit picky on when it comes to eating. If I know for sure she doesn't like what were having, I'll fix her something different but she can still try what were having. For example, she is not a pasta fan, however when I fix us pasta, she may have mac and cheese and fish or something like that, and I will still put a small serving of pasta on her plate. This way she has the opportunity to eat what were having. I do it this way because I don't want to give her something that I know she doesn't like and she throw a tantrum and me give in. However, if I give her something I know she likes and she doesn't eat it, well thats just tough love.

Pacificplayland

Between my husband, my son and myself, we have several different types of food allergies and intolerances, some picky eating habits, plus I'm trying to lose weight. It's not unusual for me to cook / prepare 9 different meals a day... Lol, it can be a real pain sometimes; I have to follow strict meal plans to make sure everyone is getting the nutrition they need, usually they don't have a choice... Eat or starve in my book... I love my family, they don't complain... Anymore :-)

marie_cressman

You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit.

Eat what I give you or take your butt to bed. This goes for my 6 and 3yr old. Yep. Usually breakfast I will allow choices (only if I'm not actually cooking... they get choices if they're having cereal or whatever). Lunch, dinners, and even snacks are mine for the picking even down to the time (unless they ask politely "can we please have apples/bananas/oranges/raisins/insert healthy snack"). I don't want the kids to think eating CONSTANTLY is ok, but I do feed them when I eat (and I eat 5 small meals a day). They never go hungry and they won't starve to death over night if they don't like what I made for dinner.

nikinyx6

I'm not a mom, but an auntie to three kids, and when they visit, I take 'em to the produce aisle, let them each pick out a veggie...take 'em to the meat aisle, and gently prod them into picking something to go WITH said veggies, then involve them in cooking it. I understand this might not work in a conventional setting, but the kids (who are pretty picky usually) eat every bite!

Reinventing_Me

I will ask my family for preferences but usually the decision is left up to me.

I do both. Most of the time I try to have something planned out a day or two before; however, I don't mind if there is something they'd prefer to eat provided I don't have to jump through hoops to make it. On days like today where I didn't plan dinner, I ask them what they would like. Usually it's something quick like Shredded Buffalo Chicken Wraps from the SkinnyTaste website,tacos or turkey burgers or meatloaf. That takes the burden off of me for deciding what to have because, after a long day at work, sometimes I just don't feel like figuring it out.

ETA: I definitely think letting the kids help plan the meals can help make them more likely to make good food choices if that's what we teach them. It also helps them develop a taste and willingness to try new things.

k8blujay2

My DD isn't old enough to decide what to eat just yet.... but I make a menu before grocery shopping... if anyone wants to a request a meal then... that's fine, I will get the ingredients for it... and then we can choose (the day before so meat can thaw and whatnot) from that... but we all eat the same meal... if you want something different you're gonna have to make it yourself.

CharityPearce

I definitely don't make my kids a separate meal if they don't like what I make. They know where the sandwich stuff is. Here's how I've decided to please everyone at least some of the time. I had them all make a list of their favorite things. There can be as little or as much on it as they want. (One of my boys has only 3 items on the list) I try to choose from these lists and intersperse my faves here and there - and occasionally try something new. I've been surprised how often the new stuff goes on the lists. This seems to make them all willing to eat what I make even when the day isn't something that was on their list, because they know it was on someone's list - even if it's mine, and they know that something from their list is coming soon. I haven't had a single complaint since I started this.

EvgeniZyntx

Im talking about meals: Are you the type that asks your kids what they want to eat and make it or
like me, the type that makes my choice of meal and they have to eat it because this is not a restaurant.
although i let them pick whatever they want once a week, I knew a person that had 2 kids and she would make 2 different meals three times a day, everyday! thats exhausting.

I'm a mom with a beard some days.

I make the meals 2-3 evenings a week as my wife works in France for these days.

Two of my daughters are older and have expectations - when the chef is lazy they let him know. But they also pitch in. They eat what I eat usually. But if not, they can scrounge for themselves.

The little sisters are picky eaters and so I usually cook something horribly bland for them - and they are only now beginning to taste from the regular stuff. Cooking for them is actually easy. Cooking for them in a healthy way? Not so much. But the fruits that they will eat are time savers - apple sauce, bananas, carrot sticks as are soft boiled eggs.

It helps to get them to help me and give input - usually during study time so that the surprise of the meal does not turn them off. Nothing has pissed me off more than spending time and money preparing something with love and care to hear "yuck" four times.

On bad days, I later hear complaints "Mom, while you where out dad did that thing with throwing everything in the refrigerator into the wok and making glubibulga. Again."

Dare2BThin

My daughter usually chooses breakfast , lunch is normally at her preschool, (she start KG Monday so it will be either school lunch or what she choose for her lunch box). Dinner is usually what I say it is, but I will let her choose the sides most of the time, or I willing to change the sides if she ask before I make it. For example last night we had baked chicken lipton brocoili and cheddar rice with extra added brocoili and I was making carrots but she wanted asked for corn so I switched the carrots to corn.

At my moms house you at what was cooked but my dad would generally cook the smae thing with variations for each of us (3 in total) but he WAS a cook by profession so he never had a problem doing three different omlets for breakfast or making different size pancakes LOL

tinytoyjess

I am the type who makes a meal that I think they want and then listen to them whine when they get home because it's not actually what they want.

Actually, this is mostly concerning my older daughter (5 yo.) My younger (19 months) will eat anything. My older is very picky and will always find something to take an issue with, when it comes to food. She turned 5 in June and weighs 32 lbs soaking wet after dinner.

AuddAlise

I let them have options for breakfast and lunch. Dinner is whatever I am cooking and if you don't want it make something else or go hungry. :devil:

trophywife24

They pick their breakfast and lunch. I make dinner BUT like 80% of the time I do try to make something that I know they will eat. Once a week my older son picks what dinner is and he loves that.

therealangd

When the kids were younger they got what I cooked.

Now that they are older (20 & 17) The first question is "Are you going to be home for supper?" And "What do you want for supper?" After 17 and 20 years, they know the types of meals I cook, those are their options.