I don't like that...

Tonight we had some chicken stir-fry. It's become a more regular meal in our house since we tried making our own Hu-Hot (Mongolian BBQ), and since rice is cheap and veggies are good for you. Anyhow, Moose is never very fond of these nights. Tonight was no different. The first thing he said as he sat down was something along the lines of, "I don't like this dinner."

I've never been the type to make two different dinners, one for us, one for the kids. I think this has served us well in the end, although I'll be the first to admit that Moose has never been very picky about eating and is quite the doll when it comes to food and eating it.

Anyhow, we've stuck with having him eat our food, always having at least one bite of something new. We can always tell when he genuinely doesn't like something, or if we made the stir fry or chili too spicy. But we can likewise tell if he just doesn't want to eat something because, well, he just doesn't want to.

Moose knew that after dinner we were going for a walk, and he wanted to do that, so he got to eating his rice and stir fry (with little crunchy chow-mein noodles on top. That helps to get him excited. Although we stir them in so he can't just pick them out.) We made sure not to give him too much, and told him to get to it. It didn't take too long (a miracle around here. Lately he's been taking like an hour to eat his dinner. A bit tedious.) and his plate was scraped clean.

Afterwards, all I could think was, "My kid just ate rice, chicken, carrots, bell peppers, and celery. He had no problem whatsoever. I must be doing something right." I don't know if it will be this smooth with Monkey. Although we were brave and gave her a small portion of tiny chicken chunks, rice and veggies too. She's been a bit pickier about eating and all.

Although since we've gone through this with Moose, we're not afraid to send a kid to bed without eating much. They'll be hungry in the morning, and soon learn that if they don't like waking up hungry, they eat their dinner.

Anyway, whenever we have a meal (including healthy portions of veggies) where our kids eat their food (without a ton of cajoling and complaining, which doesn't happen as often as I'd like) I can't help but be pleased that we're helping them to be healthy and teaching them good habits. I didn't get good about eating veggies until the last year. It happened after Monkey was born and I can't really explain it. But I had a moment like that tonight that just made me feel good. It's nice to have moments like that every now and then.

Funny kid moment: Monkey's new thing is carrying things around while she walks. She's quite the half-pint. She's pretty tall for her age, but skinny. Nonetheless, today she insisted on dragging around my rolling pin. It was more like a tall walking stick for her, but she dragged it around the kitchen and living room anyway. You've go to admire her spirit. :)