Chickie2378! That kid is going 1 better than me with the Brussels sprouts

! But, I'll happily eat the cabbage!
smileyfacecat said:
. . . (I hope I haven't offended anyone, just saying my piece. :happy_flower)
Well, I'm deeply offended . . . that you apparently learned all of this without my influence, SFC!
Happy Birthday SFC AND Carol!!
I really hope that school cafeteria food is better! Carol!?? We sure can't just do it by offering an apple. I mean, I didn't even know that I liked raw apples until I started peeling them - see how kids are? I thought the best thing you could do with an apple, if you weren't going to make a pie out of it, was to throw it for the Border Collie to chase!
thistlebloom said:
I'm afraid that I'm going to be much closer to someone who will be dying of lung cancer over the next few years than I'd ever choose to be. That person still cannot quit smoking! Something about "God's Will" or something or other. Well, if I take a shortcut across the freeway enuf times maybe it will be God's Will that I end up as a grease spot out there on the asphalt. The children left behind are just now adults and may be interpreting this as some kind of rational behavior - I'm not sure.
I was a vegetarian for a few years while my oldest was a little guy. He has been back and forth as a vegetarian for many more years than I was

. I bought him 3 cookbooks last year for his birthday!
The microwave had arrived by the time my youngest came along. Kate, I tried to be a good role model for her. You know, an apple that has been chopped up and nuked can really be popular with a kid. You put some raisins in there and splash some cream on it and they'll accept it as dessert

!
Wok, V? I used to be not much for salads but let's say you take everything you might put in a salad. Then, you take everything that you would put in a salad dressing - how about, oil, good vinegar and a sprinkle of seasoning salt. Now, get that oil hot, toss all your veggies in and at the last minute throw in the vinegar and seasoning salt! Serve that over rice! Now, you are cooking!! Your kid will think you are some kind of magician

. And, eat twice or 3 times as much of the veggies as he or she would eat in a salad.
And, if they are bratty nephews that won't - send 'em home with some cranky words to their parents, Lesa :/! Maybe next time they will be a little more polite when they are guests in someone's home!
Anyway, this has been my experience and it wasn't quite where I was coming from. Dad and Mom expected me to clean my plate - just like your parents Joan. They grew up during the Depression. Dad has always expected that it would return - falling down around his ears like it must have when he was 10 or 12. Dad will be 94 this winter, you don't suppose time will prove him right do you, Hoodat?
Kassaundra, I don't think that there is anything more important that we can do for our children than to teach them the importance of good sleep habits, exercise, and nutrition, along with those 3 R's! If that can continue thru their years of education maaaybe it will
stick. But, as you all seem to be saying: at some point in time, they have to take it on themselves - that's what we call adulthood.
Steve