Hello Everyone! over the weekend I witnessed something, and it was hard for me to maintain my composure as a parent. Innocently enough the parent does not know the long term effects of what she is saying to her child. Unnoticeable at times, all of us as parents might have done the same thing a time or two, and that is accepting the food choices of one child over the other. If you have a “picky eater“, then you now exactly where I’m going. For a parent of a non “picky eater”, it is easier to plan mealtimes in comparison to our children who do have more of a preference to what they want to eat. Planning for our “picky eaters” can be time consuming, mind boggling, and sometimes stressful. All in all we have to be mindful not to voice/converse our frustration in front of our children. Expressing ourselves in this manner, can result into our children feeling unloved and unaccepted because he/she is a “picky eater”. Why do I think this can happen? Well in the midst of our comments about our child/children food preferences, we a not strengthening, building up, or praising our child. In the beginning my child never ate any meat, fish , or chicken at home. This posed a health challenge for protein intake. I have to honestly say that in my moments of frustration, I wish I had someone to bring to my attention the effects that this would eventually have on my child. So how can this be avoided in the beginning? The greatest thing we can do is continue being hopeful about their food choices, one day it may change. Now my child is starting to try different foods every now and then. I too became hopeful for my child, and this is why I’m sharing that hopefulness is great gain. Also continue to introduce and offer various foods to your child/children not in forcing, punishing, or threatening way. If you have any questions, please leave your questions below or send an email. Thank you and I hope this helps you.