A New Leaf

Okay, so this is a long, long time coming.

Our lives are being controlled by an unstoppable force. It's threatening our health, our wealth, and our sanity.

It's unpredictable. It's uncontrollable.

It has no respect for time, convenience, or geographic location.

We have been held prisoner - for well over a year - by the poor eating habits of a precious little redheaded boy.

Let me just run you through a typical day...

Monday. Eggo Waffles. Slathered in butter. Uneaten. Followed by a pop tart. Thrown to the dogs. McDonald's Biscuit on the way to the grocery store. Half-eaten.

While in the store, screaming for Nemo Fruit Snacks. Two packs consumed. At 10:30. Along with an entire sippy cup of oranje juice.

Noon. Stick Soup requested. Stick Soup not touched. Two saltines eaten. Another cup of orange juice consumed.

1PM. Down for nap. Cup of Milk in the bed with him.

4 PM. Wakes up. Wants popcorn. Eats popcorn.

6:30 PM. Dinner is served. He screams. He doesn't want it. We fix frozen nuggets and Ore Ida "Crispers" french fries. Two fries eaten.

8:00 PM. Ready for bed. Screams for waffles. Two are prepared. Half of one is consumed.

8:20 PM. In bed. With another cup of milk, which he works on for about a half hour while he falls asleep.

Wake up.

Repeat.

Every.

Single.

Day.

I'm ashamed to admit, but I will be honest, that some days he has Chicken Tenders from Burger King for Lunch and Chicken McNuggets from McDonald's at Night. IT NEVER FAILS. THAT is what he will eat. Every time. And we get sucked into his wants rather than doing what we know is best. Every time.

Until now.

It's 4 PM on Wednesday, and Ben has not had fast-food since Sunday evening. And quite honestly, there's not a lot he has had since then either.

It's a fight I just decided we were going to have. And it's really not a fight. Or if it is, we're not participating in it anyway. We just decided a few days ago that this was how we were going to approach life with Ben from this point on.

And it's not his fault, nor is it entirely ours. We had a TERRIFIC experience from about 9 months to 18 months. He had a great appetite. He ate all sorts of vegetables. You could prepare Taco Meat and the kid would devour a bowl full.

Then the ear infection from hell started. And yes, I said the ear infection from hell. It was the worst 4 months of our lives as we waited and waited for the inevitable, "Well, now we can put tubes in." And in that time, he lost interest in food. Who could blame him? He felt like crap for four months. He had a fever at LEAST 50% of that time. It was agony for us. It was agony for him.

We've just been letting him have his way for far too long.

Today, while I was home for lunch, he arrived home from Bible Study. He had apparently been asking for Burger King Chicken in the car, and Jenny stood firm. This was after he had an assortment of fruit and other choices in front of him at Jason's Deli. Jenny will admit to having wavered for a moment, at which point she called me to ask what I thought she should do. She agreed when I said "Absolutely Not." He came in cranky, asking for popcorn. Asking for Trick or Treats. Asking for Nemo Fruit Snacks.

I made myself a cheese quesadilla. Then I made him one.

We set it in front of him, and we went on about our business.

And eventually, he ate it. It was then than Jenny quoted something she read on a friend's blog...she thinks it was this family...that said, "Your only responsibility as a parent is to prepare healthy food and put it in front of them. It's their choice if they are going to eat it or not."

It's as simple and profound as that. Maybe you've all heard that time and again. I'll admit, I've heard versions of the same thought before. Just not that concise.

At any rate, it was exactly what I needed to hear three days into this new phase of feeding our child.

So pray for us. Pray for Ben's appetite. Pray for us to stand firm and make the choices he needs us to make. It's a hard, hard position to be in for any parent.