Recycling the SAHD way

I REALLY don't like throwing away food. But I also don't want to make the Triplets eat everything I give them. Anyone else see a correlation between "clean your plate" or "eat all your food" and the obesity problem/epidemic in the U.S.? Now I know some kids don't eat at all unless forced to eat but we don't have that problem. I don't want the Triplets to see food as a punishment. Now we do offer incentives sometimes, especially if it is something that is good for them and they don't like it i.e. vegetables. For instance they may need to eat a certain amount of veggies before they get their fruit. But I still don't "make" them eat.

Inevitably we end up with half eaten meals sometimes. There is no rhyme or reason to it so I have learned to adapt to it. I do not eat until the kids are done. Quite often my meal is what they don't eat. I don't like putting food back that has been on their plate as it has probably been covered with an ample amount of spittle from our often times lengthy and animated meal time discussions. But I usually don't have an issue with eating it as long as it is not chewda (already been chewed.) I started fixing my own meals and eating with them but I started gaining some lbs so I cut that out. Now I wait to see if they leave me anything before fixing my own.

Of course this is different when we have "family meal time" on the weekend or special occasions. I do sometimes still get my own food but it quickly becomes the Triplets favorite food and I end up sharing it with them anyway:)

It would be nice if the Food and Drug Administration stopped issuing warnings about toxic substances and just gave me the names of one or two things still safe to eat.

Robert Fuoss

As a child my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it.

Buddy Hackett

Al