Mothers these days have some common problems to share regarding their children. Children being choosy; not wanting to eat their meals; acting stubborn or misbehaving in public are the common worries of the mothers, today. You discuss any of these and you see most of the mothers nodding their head to say yes. If your child makes various excuses to avoid his food like, he says, he is not feeling hungry, he wants to go to the toilet, the food is very spicy and he cannot eat it, he is feeling sleepy, he wants to play or any other excuse that he makes, it means he is not interested in your food and you always have to force him to eat his meals or refreshments or any other thing.
If you scold your child and make him eat, you are making him all the more disinterested in the food that he is eating. The correct way is to handle such kids with a lot of patience and arouse their interest in the food. This is how you can make it possible.
Engage him in your cooking– You can ask your child to pass you a glass of water that is needed for cooking the vegetables or tell him to get the vegetables from the refrigerator. Then make him sit in the kitchen and keep talking to him regarding the benefits of what you are cooking for him. Ask him for the container of the salt or any other spices and then tell him how the food is going to be tastier than ever as he has also been a part of cooking today. This way he will be interested in the food.
Take him for the grocery shopping-Take your child along when you go for grocery shopping and ask him to select the vegetables that he wants to eat or the ones that are liked by him. Excite him with the colors like red tomatoes, green capsicum etc. When you cook the same vegetables at home, he will show interest in it, knowing that he himself had bought them.
Serve the food decoratively- Children often find the food served in restaurants exciting as it is served very nicely, in an alluring manner. You can do the same at home. Get some nice plates and glasses, with pictures of their favorite cartoons and serve the food with lots of colorful garnishing. This will surely make your child interested in the food that he eats.
Be a role model- the pattern of eating that is followed at your place, will be liked and followed by your kid as well. So, if you are used to eating lots of junk food or there is very less consumption of green vegetables, the same taste will be developed by your kid soon, no matter how hard you try tom keep him away. You have to change your habits first and include lots of fruits, green vegetables and healthy eating in order to expect the same being liked by your kid.
Child psychologists say that kid’s habits can be better changed by the love and care of the parents. Though it is easily said than done but the fact remains that anger makes your child rebellious, so if you want to nurture your child better, have patience.
