Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Success?

So Pumpkin finally tried some mashed potato today. We've been having mashed potatoes with our "fishies' (fish-shaped fishsticks) almost weekly for months. Really, months. And tonight, for the first time, Pumpkin ate some.

But first, she dunked it in her milk.

Is that success?

We're actually floundering a bit on how to respond to Pumpkin's new fascination with dunking everything in her milk. Her fishies also went for a swim tonight, as have many of the entrees we've served her lately. On the one hand, its kind of gross, especially when she strands stuff in there. On the other hand, she usually eats it after dunking it and I hate to make a big fuss about a basically harmless activity. I'm very much a "pick your battles" sort of parent. And Hubby, who is more likely to be willing to fight the battles over this sort of thing, doesn't seem to care about this one.

OK, I promise more interesting posts soon. I'm still recovering from the cold that knocked me flat over the weekend and don't really have the energy to work on the interesting posts I have knocking around in my head. Sorry!

5 comments:

  1. I'd call that a success. As long as she's actually eating most of the dunked food, and it isn't making you crazy. I think Elli is just coming out the other end of this phase, but the dunking was a much bigger problem for us because it made my husband crazy, and she wasn't really eating the dunked food.

    Maybe it changes the texture of things, and makes them a little more palatable? But I'm guessing that it is just a phase. Hope you're feeling better soon!

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  2. I'm with you: this is one of those battles I would not pick. My 20-month son is a frustratingly picky eater, though it comes and goes a bit. But I'm pretty happy if he eats, period. Like you, we try hard to follow the "division of responsibility" rule and not cater to him, so I see this as way that Pumpkin is making the experience of eating her own. I figure with stuff like this there will come an age at which it will be appropriate and realistic to teach the kid that there are things you can do at home that you can't do elsewhere. Dunking your food will be one of those things.

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  3. Have you tried giving her alternatives to dip her food into? I've disovered that dipping is king with my twin 25-month-olds. Depending on the food, I'll often give them a little dish or mound of lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, hommus, plain yoghurt, a little bit of garlic salt, etc etc. I don't know why toddlers love dipping, but they do!

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  4. @andrea- interestingly, the only other thing Pumpkin has shown any interest in dunking things in is ketchup. And really, she'd rather just eat that with her hands!

    I keep trying hummus hoping that she'll like it. So far, no luck. But to be fair, I didn't eat that until I was in graduate school. She doesn't seem to like ranch dressing, either.

    I was actually an anti-dipper as a kid, and still prefer things without added condiments. I eat french fries without ketchup and like my hamburgers "dry".

    Really, it is amazing my parents didn't go insane trying to feed me.

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  5. Aren't the fish sticks dunked in milk before being dredged in batter or flour?

    Let her have this little bit of control. Just be glad she is eating.

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