Getting the boy to eat his dinner!

 We have always had a hard time with eating dinner around here. Jack will eat for anyone but me. We go through the same routine every night. "I don't like that, I am not going to eat it." all before even taking one bite. It is frustrating and as my last effort before going on strike I came up with an idea.

When I picked Jack up at school I told him we were going to work on a project this week. Since he didn't like the things I chose and made for dinner I would let him plan and help with dinner. We went to a little market full of fruit and vegetables and just the basics available. So there would be no begging for sweets and treats. I asked Jack to pick out what he wanted to eat for dinner.

Jack picked;
Squash
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Mangoes
Kiwi
Bananas
Corn on the cob
Strawberries

 For the first meal between fish and chicken he picked fish. For the side he wanted the corn. We also decided to use our strawberries up, since they go bad fast, and added some kiwi.


We got started he had to husk the corn. He was so proud as he finished and started to get down from his stool. I told him we still had work to do. He was shocked as I explained that we had to prepare all the items for the meal. We had to keep going till it was all done. After a while he turned to me and said "Mom you are right this is a lot of work." he then apologized for not eating what I make. What?! Yes!

Being Jack he had to dress the part!

We set the table as our fish finished cooking and Jack being really into this project said that since this was a fancy meal he was going to fold the napkins in triangles.

With the dinner done we just had to wait for Dad. 

Jack was pretty excited to show Dad his surprise contrary to what he looks like in the picture below.

It was a good meal and guess what!

That little boy cleaned his plate.

We didn't have to ask him a hundred times to eat! 

I reminded Jack that was only one day down and that he chose enough food for three more meals. We will see how they work out but it was a good experience for both of us last night. As of now my strike has been abandoned.