"Mum, I HATE salad, I don't want to eat salad!!" He says as he slams his hands down on the dining table. The youngest is hardly getting any attention because the oldest is throwing an epic tantrum over something that he hasn't even tried yet. It's really not uncommon in our house.
I try to keep my calm. "Don't focus on the things you don't want to eat, focus on the things you do want to eat. Maybe start with some chicken." I say as I turn his plate so that the chicken is in his face and not the dreaded salad. He hates salad.
My partner is looking at me like sympathetically. I tried to tell him when we met that my kid takes salad hatred to the extreme, I am not sure he believed me. Now he does, but he insists we need to "break the habit".
This just just a normal night in our house. We try to eat our meal but the older of the two boys is continuing to discuss his disdain for salad. He chews, gags and spits it out. The younger one tries to mimmic him and we try our best to teach him it's not right without triggering the older one even further. He's very sensitive at meal time. Between bites of our own and watching the time on the clock get closer and closer to bed time, we try convince him that salad is good for you and tastes nice. the pleas fall of deaf ears.
The meal is over, except for him of course. He is still sitting there, because he hates salad. My partner, who isn't his biological father, takes him outside onto the curb with the piece of corn that's been causing all of the issues. I can hear him arguing as my loving partner tries to convince him to just try to eat the corn. After ten minutes I decide it's my turn and I head out, I feel like I am going to battle. I am armed with my big bottle of water and I plea with him to just try to eat his corn and wash it down with water. I remind him he hasn't even tasted it yet, how can he know he doesn't like it? I should really be putting my 2 year old down to bed, but I am out here arguing with the 4 year old... The little one misses out which makes me sad. He has a small bite of corn, carries on and cries. Finally he takes a big bit, chews and swallows.....and then proceeds to vomit it back up all over me.
Seriously, how can he control his gag reflex like that?
I GIVE UP.
We come inside, him exhausted from screaming. Me emotionally and mentally drained. That was the last time we tried to feed him corn.
But unfortunately scenes like that continue at most meal times. If it's not corn, it's carrot, or broccoli. Basically anything that comes from the earth. How can I, a health nut have produced that, the lolly and carbohydrate king?
My partner and I have many adult conversations about what to do, both of us stumped. Why does this child have the will of a 50 year old man? How can he, at 3 and 4 out do the will of two grown adults..? But he does. I talk to friends, doctors... people tell me he will grow out of it, I am not sure I believe them.
"Honey, he needs to be told something 7 times before he will believe it's true. We just have to keep trying, it's better for him in the long run." I know he's right, we just need to keep trying with the veggies. He's right, it's for his good in the end.
And so I dutifully place salad in front of him most nights, except those nights where I just can't handle the fight, then we eat spaghetti or noodles of some sort.
I get upset with his dad, he comes home and tells me he ate mac & cheese and pizza. I don't know if it's true but I am sitting here in front of a roast lamb and veg trying desperately to get Mr. "I don't like salad", to in fact eat his salad. Frustrating.
More times than once, I cry. More times than once, I scream. More times than once, he goes to his room screaming. More times than once he falls asleep without dinner.
"Iron Man eats his salad."
"First one to finish their salad is the rockin egg!"
"Salad makes you grow muscles"
"Mummy loves her salad"
"Eat all your salad and you can have dessert"
"Eat all of your salad or go to bed without dinner"
"Don't focus on the things you don't want to eat, focus on the things you do want to eat"
"You don't have to eat the salad, yet."
"We will talk about the salad once you finish everything else on your plate"
"Show me how much salad you can eat? You are such a good boy."
"I am so proud of you."
"Do you want to help me cook?"
"Do NOT spit your food out at the table."
The list felt endless. Always trying to convince him to eat his salad. Many times I wanted to give up. Many times it all just seemed way too hard. But then I would picture him, as a grown man living in an apartment on his own and think, he needs someone to teach him about food... and who better than me? And so we would go to bed, and try again tomorrow.
And then tomorrow came.
"Here bub, you can have a piece of corn." I say to the little one.
"I don't have to have corn, cause I HATE corn." The big one teases the little one.
"Ruby, you don't have to have corn, but don't rub it in your brother's face. You've got to eat all of the other veggies on your plate though." I sit down with my plate which includes corn. I start serving up the Mexican chicken and rice bake. Crap... I put corn into the Mexican chicken. I prepare for the battle, to remove the corn piece by piece as I've done many meals before for him. He says nothing. I certainly don't say anything. I'm waiting for him to notice the corn. We start eating. He gets up from the table... I watch him go into the kitchen and I bite my tongue, I try not to scold him at meal time because it only creates upset. The less upset the better during dinner time at our house.
"Mummy, I want some corny."
"You want corn?"
"Yes."
"Okay love, of course you can have corn." I plate some up for him.
"This is yum.' he says as he tucks into it. I stare at him. My partner calls on the phone to tell me he is on his way home soon.
"You're never going to guess what Ruby is eating." I say. I text him a picture.
"CORN! Good on ya mate. You're super." After a brief conversation, I hang up the phone. Still amazed, we eat our dinner in peace. A pleasurable meal, amazing. He needs a few reminders to eat, but mostly he does well.
He looks at the bowl of salad on the table. I often have a "serve yourself" bowl of salad when the kids are here... just in case.
"Can I have some?"
"Sure! What do you want?"
I let him use his fingers to pick the bits of salad out that he wants to try.
He eats 4 cherry tomatoes, 3 pieces of radish, a couple of pieces of carrot, a cooked tomato, 2 pieces of rocket and he even tries an onion... which he washes down with some water, "because," he informs me, "it's a little bit spicy".
And in that moment, I don't think I have ever been more proud of him. 1 year it's taken us, almost to the day I expect... but seeing him chow down on some healthy food and follow it up with a dessert of cashews has got to be one of my most proud mother moments ever.
I didn't think he'd ever get there. I thought, I am going to give him food aversions for good. He is going to hate me. Anything I do here gets undone at his dad's house. I am fighting a battle I can't win... but honestly every moment was worth it. In a previous life (before I met my new partner), I would have accepted the behaviour of salad hatred... but I put down our success to my partner's diligence in keeping me on track, reminding me what was important and okay, on my occasions; bearing the load when I was going to explode with frustration.
They need to be told 7 times (or 700) before they believe it's true, but salad at every meal will help them become accustomed to a healthy life.