Food Fight

 

I have a confession.  I hate feeding my kids.  Okay, maybe hate is too strong a word.  But I do find it to be one of the more frustrating things about my life right now.  

As newborns, they're hungry all the time.  You might as well just find a cozy spot on the couch and park there for the next three months, 'cause all they'll be doing is eating and they take forever to do it.  Which I wouldn't really mind if I didn't have myself and other people to take care of as well.  

Next they get bigger, and eat faster, and eat more.  But they have no teeth and can't use utensils, so the challenge is to find food that is soft, but not too soft, and healthy, and filling, that they can pick up themselves or will allow you to feed to them.  

Then comes a switch.  They become toddlers.  Suddenly, nothing you give them is right.  You gave them spaghetti last night and they ate every bite and loved it, but today they will not touch it with a ten foot pole.  "I hate spaghetti!" they say.  "No you don't, you just had it last night and you loved it!"  They insist, "No, I hate it!"  And, instead of eating their food, they will pick at it and end up spreading it all over the table or high chair tray, and probably get some on the floor too while they're at it.  There's no winning with toddlers.

What really gets me is that even though they may not eat hardly anything you set in front of them, causing you to wonder how they even survive on such a meager diet, you don't have the option of not feeding them.  You have to feed them.  Well, you have to try, anyway.  And if, for one day, you decided to take a break from trying to force feed the little guys, they would probably wail all day long that they're hungry.  It is a toddler's nature to be contrary. 

I am just waiting for the day when their little boy appetites kick in.  Of course, then I will probably complain that they are always eating and I can't find enough food or variety of foods to keep up with the massive quantity of their consumption.  

The positive is that eventually they will be able to feed themselves, which will include making their own food occasionally.  But that also means I have to teach them how to cook, and keep them from eating something I was saving for a particular meal.  It also means buying a lot more groceries to keep up with three growing boys.  And that doesn't even factor in the possibility of us having more children in the future!

Little did I know, back when I was a single girl dreaming of getting married and having kids, that food would be such a point of contention and turmoil!