‘Do not think of your mealtimes as a failure. Think of them as a time-released success'

(Based on the quote by Robert Orben, American writer)

In my mind, there are no failed mealtimes. If your kids reject food you would like them to try, think of it as another step closer to your child trying to get more familiar and comfortable with that food and eventually one day, even trying it. If your child doesn’t try something new on their plate, they are still seeing it, smelling it, tolerating it, all ‘wins’ in my mind.

Why do we tend to accept that our kids don’t always go to bed well or behave as we want whilst out in public, but we don’t give up and think, ‘I’m never going out with my child again!’ and I carry this on at mealtimes too

🤔 It’s a small tweak in mindset to achieve much calmer mealtimes 🤔

I started thinking about all this after Pancake Tuesday this week and my own ‘failures’ at trying to make one! 🙈

The first attempts were disastrous but it did not put me off...each time I made one, I was learning about what and what not to do. Not once did I think about quitting...ok, I came close...🤪

Moral of the story? If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. So when your child rejects that new vegetable put in front of them, don’t get frustrated. Just know it’s a process and don’t stop offering.

If you can get your child involved in the food preparation, even just asking them to get the new food out of the fridge or grating a carrot, this is all great experience. If no time for food prep, then eat with them. If no time to eat with them, then sit with them and talk about the plans for the weekend.

Mealtimes are far from perfect in our household, but I’m always thinking about the bigger picture to try and keep me positive.

Here’s to a weekend of experimenting, letting our kids discover new food on their terms and keeping it light-hearted.

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