Our worst moment as parents so far

Yesterday we were having a big debate about food. I don't think MaLeah and I were actually disagreeing, so maybe a "heated discussion" is a better way of saying it. This all started with Marin's nine month doctor check up. The basic premise of the conversation was whether or not to make Marin eat foods he doesn't like. The doctor told us most kids are usually 18 months old before they start to protest certain foods, but Marin makes it pretty clear when he doesn't like something ... he shakes his head no, turns away from the spoon, purses his lips together to prevent food from being placed in his mouth ... as opposed to when he likes food, opens his mouth wide, claws at the air with his hands like he's saying "give me more" and makes "mmmm" sounds.

In our attempt to be good parents, we've exposed Marin to a wide variety of foods and will continue to do so. To date, he's eaten a 100% organic diet. But honestly, I wouldn't eat some of the stuff we've given him (see my comments about chicken baby food smelling like cat food in previous posts). So the question becomes, should we make our child eat something we wouldn't eat. MaLeah makes fun of me because I love to draw analogies from my military experience, but anyway ... in the Army the non commissioned officers corps has a philosophy that "I will not ask a subordinate to something I have neither done or would not do myself." I think that's a good way of saying don't be a hypocrite. Now on the other hand, I also have to be honest that MaLeah and I are both picky eaters and have a horrible diet ... definitely not something I want to pass on to Marin. Long ago we came to the realization that to prevent Marin picking up our bad habits, we're going to have to change the stuff we eat when he gets to the age he is eating the same food as us ...but we're not quite there yet, so I'm going to enjoy this Little Debbie cake while I type.

Marin's dinner yesterday was spinach. MaLeah doesn't eat the stuff. I don't hate it, but I definitely don't seek it out. The baby food variation is just plain nasty smelling. Marin was making his usual protest, but doing OK with our animated encouragements ... "mmmm, it's good!" ... "see, mommy likes it" (while MaLeah pretends to eat a bite) ... etc. After about half a bowl Marin just wasn't buying it anymore. We've also tried all kinds of other strategies, like alternating bites with a food he likes. But most of those had unexpected consequences. Marin got to the point he was distrustful of any food offered. So we finally gave in and decided to give him something else.

Now is when the really effed up part of the story begins ...

MaLeah (and I emphasize MaLeah) decided we should give Marin "spring vegetables with pasta" as a substitute. It has peas, carrots, little pasta rings ... and spinach. I don't know what we were thinking. I guess we thought if we were going to stop on the straight spinach we weren't going to substitute it with a sweet fruit. Anyway, one bite and Marin gagged and hurled ...

I have never felt more guilty or scared in my life.

Once we got things under control and Marin cleaned up (and given him a couple spoons of something sweet to get the taste out of his mouth) all that stupid spinach crap went in the trash. So did corn, which he doesn't like. And the chicken cat food.

Now I'm not saying Marin is suddenly going to get to eat junk and only junk, but last night definitely solidified my belief in not making him eat stuff he doesn't like. He likes peas, so at least there's one green vegetable he likes. He loves squash, which is weird but we'll go with it. He like carrots ... and so we'll still try to keep a well balanced diet, but for those truly awful foods ... NO MORE.

It will be interesting to see how we progress as Marin gets older and begins eating table food. I really hope he likes more types of food than either MaLeah or me. The challenge is balancing his exposure to new foods against not forcing him to eat foods he doesn't like, and then throw in making sure he still eats a balanced diet and not just junk. Oh, the joys of being a parent ...