Yuck Potato Pie

Grace has gradually become a more picky eater. She has generally been pretty easy to feed. Even if she doesn't like something or it is new, she will usually give it a try with a bite or two. But recently her desire for junk food has taken over. When she comes home from school the snack of her choice is cereal. She wants to eat a sugary cereal, like Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Cocoa Pebbles. And it's usually two bowls! Then she doesn't want to eat dinner. She also loves sweets. She can eat 5 bites for dinner and say she's full but when I finally give in and take her plate she asks if she can have a snack now, before she's even left her seat! Of course, a snack means a sweet. She's done this for a long time. But over the last month or so she has slowly started rejecting the dinners that I make. She says she just doesn't want that for dinner. It's not that she doesn't like it, she just doesn't want that. Her choice for dinner? Hot dog! That's what she always wants. I've tried to hold strong to the idea that what is served for dinner is what everyone eats. If I give in and let them start custom ordering their own meal then I'll never get out of the kitchen. She says she'll make her own dinner. I haven't given into that either. That will just be another mess for me to clean up. I really believe that they should eat what is served and if they don't want that, then breakfast will be served in the morning. This sounds harsh but it's what the parenting books suggest in order to maintain authority and teach them healthy ways of eating. I think I need to start only buying healthy cereal. I don't even keep many sweets in the house. Mainly so that I won't eat them! But the girls love sweets too so I just can't have them around.

Anyway, on to the title of this post. So, last Wednesday night I made chicken pot pie. It was fine. It was definitely edible. But Grace had it in her head that she did not want that for dinner. Eric came in from work after we had already started eating. (We started eating early because we were getting ready to leave for church.) Eric sat down and asked what we were having. In her most disgusted voice, and sounding too much like a teenager, she announced we were having "yuck potato pie". Well, thank you Grace. It's so nice to be appreciated! I guess that's the life of a mother.