I bumped into an old acquaintance, a vegetarian, who was buying bbq meat at T&T. She saw my quizzical look, laughed and told me that her health on the decline for a while now and doctor ordered her to eat meat (fastest route for iron), because she was lacking nutrients. I'm sure there are more to the story and she's just giving me the shortest version of it. Either way, it's a good reminder for me, to have balance, everything in moderation. I kept that note in the back pocket of my brain. We don't eat much meat at home but we do eat lots of veggies and seafood so I think we got our bases covered.
When Bee doesn't want to eat meat and there's no way on earth to get her to eat tofu, nuts, legumes, root vegetables, spinach or seafood !!! there was no doubt I went on panic mode. If it's just a day or 2 it wouldn't be a problem, but it was weeks O_O plain rice !!! ugh ! I want to pull my hair out !
There must be something she likes to eat. Egg or prawn would be an easy option to attempt, as she likes them before. But no matter what I tried to make with them for Bee, she still won't eat. She has no interest in them. I gave up and let her have her rice and stop fussing. I was simply too tired.
2 weeks or some more days went by and one morning, Bee woke up and asked for eggs for breakfast. JUST.LIKE.THAT. I was so relieved. I feel as if I have been holding my breath in all these times and finally can exhale. The next few days was easier to get her to eat, but some meals I still have to coax her a bit.
This week has been looking up for the both of us. Yesterday Bee ate cereal for breakfast, had some fruits at Strong Start, then had 2 eggs for lunch. She had a cheese stick for afternoon snack, and rice with salmon and snow pea tips (from our own garden which she helped me picked) for dinner. It's beginning to look promising. It's not the end yet but we're moving on ! Yay ! and I didn't have to do anything ... which puzzled me a bit.
I think by always giving Bee so many choices and too focus on getting her to eat, I made Bee into a picker eater. I still remember what my colleague Julia said to me about meals at her house > she makes whatever for dinner and the family eat what's on the table. If her daughter eats, great, if not, that's fine too. She doesn't go to make another meal for her daughter (like I do) ! By making meal a family event and giving no other option, her daughter has no choice but eat what's presented in front of her or else she'll go to bed hungry. Simple but hard for me to follow :-( because Bee will choose to be hungry and then bug me at ridiculous time at night to get her something to eat.
What I learned, is that sometime we just have to chill out :-D stop fussing over our kids and let them be. Of course monitor them to see if there's more to them just not wanting to eat, there might be some underlying illness or teething or other issues. In general though, if they are happy and active and sleep well, then they are OK ! and if so, it's OK to let them go through their freaky-picky phase.
We live and learn as parents. Not all kids are alike, some eats, some don't, some eat lots, some little, but they ALL eventually EAT ! they are human after all :-) they will go hungry and want food ! Although, I has a suspicious feeling that Bee is more than just mere human ! She told me she has "power" and I must agreed. She always know exactly what I will do next and always a step ahead of me. I must practice my power to beat her !
