This post will look at the heart of this particular problem - the extremely picky eaters. Unfortunately, the percentage of extremely picky eaters has grown exponentially in the last 5 years. Used to be, I would have maybe 1 or 2 extremely picky eaters out of 7 children. Now, I am seeing 5 or 6 extremely picky eaters out of 7 children. With each passing year the level of pickiness in the new enrollees has been beyond belief. The children come in as extremely picky eaters 90% of the time now.
What do I mean by extremely picky eaters?
These are the children that eat no vegetables at all. They might eat one or two fruits but many of them eat no fruits either. Many of these children do not eat meat that is not a nugget and some will eat no meat whatsoever. The most baffling of the trends I have seen has been the children that will not touch macaroni and cheese. These children survive off of toasted pastries, cold cereal, and fast food. A large majority of these children will not touch white milk. Some will drink flavored milk and others will only drink fruit juice and juice flavored drinks.
The Violent Protest
Along with the extreme uptick in pickiness, the level of violent protest over the food has also grown exponentially in the last several years. That first day for these children can get ugly at snack and mealtimes. Now, I understand that children coming through my door experience culture shock at snack and mealtimes. Many of these children have never seen any of the food I serve because I do not serve toasted pastries, cold cereal, or fast food of any sort. I do not even serve french fries and tater tots or hamburgers and chicken nuggets for that matter. Plus, I only serve white milk. When these children sit down at mealtimes, the wailing ensues. "I want chocolate milk!" they will wail. I will calmly tell them I do not have chocolate milk. "I want cereal!" is the next cry regardless of what meal it is. Again, I will calmly tell them I do not have cereal. Then the flailing begins. I do not understand what is causing the flailing, but my tables are hard. I have had to put these children in time-out at mealtime for their own protection because they were trying very hard to give themselves a concussion. They will fall in the floor and thrash about as if they were having a seizure, but it is not a seizure. It is a plan old hissy fit. Sometimes the flailing goes on for days before the children realize I will not change the menu because they are throwing a fit. Next comes the spewing. You coax and plead with them to just try one little bitty bite until you actually succeed in making it into the mouth only to have the child spit it in your face. If they do not spit it in your face, they immediately gag. The gaggers are the worst. These children will gag until they make themselves throw up. It has gotten to the point that if after a week a child has not begun to settle down with the food issue, I terminate them. I do not want the child to starve, but on the other hand, I will not serve less nutritious food because they are flailing, spewing, and gagging. It just is not worth it.
What Do You Do?
At this point, you may be saying, "But I cannot afford to terminate all my extremely picky eaters." I completely understand that position because the number of picky eaters has grown so fiercely. Right now I will have no turnover for over a year, and I am dreading trying to start a new child after that point. I have an extremely hard conversation at enrollment about the food with the parents now. I want them to completely understand what my menu entails and what my policies are for substitutions. They have to understand that I will only allow a substitution with a doctor's note stating a true food allergy. If issues come up immediately, I will tell them that many other childcares in this town do not have the level of nutrition that we have here. If the food is a problem, you might want to find a different childcare. Even after this hard conversation, the parents are usually not prepared for the war that will ensue especially when they start trying to make the changes at home that I suggest. It really unnerves them to see the level of viciousness coming from their precious baby over eating nutritious food. Many parents cave and give the children what they want. However, they still want me to carry on the fight and deal with the demon their precious child turns into at mealtimes. They want their child to eat better. They just do not want to deal with what that entails. Before you take on this war, understand that processed food and sugar are highly addictive. Removing these substances from the children's diets will result in a nasty withdrawal process. This is why I suggest to make changes in baby steps. However, with new enrollees that cannot be accomplished because you have already made changes in which the other children have become accustomed. It is never a good idea to go backwards after good changes have been made. Therefore, I do not know how you avoid the ugliness unless you are starting from scratch every year. I will say that after 6 to 9 months of viciousness, it will ease, but that is a long time to deal with a very unhappy child. Unless the parents understand that it will take this long, you will also be dealing with very unhappy parents.
Bad eating habits are the bane of our society.
There are not very many people that truly make the choice to take on this particular monster. One of the best pieces of advice I ever heard concerning children and good eating habits came from a father that was a chef. His advice was to withhold processed and sugary foods until a child was 4 or 5 years old. By then, good eating habits will have been established enough to withstand the occasional bit of junk food. This is great advice, but how many American parents will forego convenience to make sure their children eat properly until they are 4 or 5 years old? A very slim percentage. Therefore, this problem will permeate our society for many, many years to come. All we can do is try to do better with all that we are and pray that someday we will begin to make a difference at least in the life of one child at a time.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
Check out Natalie's children's books at: https://www.amazon.com/author/nataliewade7457
No comments:
Post a Comment