So Much Time, So Little to Do!: Eating our Veggies

Ethan is really good at finding Zucchinis.

If you talk to my mom about my childhood she loves telling stories about what a picky eater I was. She constantly reminded me that if I had children that were picky eaters it was only fair for all the grief I had put her through. As an adult I wasn't much better, but being married to someone that was once hoping to become a chef doesn't lend itself to being a picky eater. Ever since we started dating Jeff has worked very hard to break me of my food aversions, and he's done a really good job. Once we had Ethan we came up with a game plan for how we'd make our son a wonderful eater with a very diverse pallet. Like all new parents we had no idea what we were talking about. Ethan was a really good eater at first but once he realized he could say no to things, we literally had meals where all he did was lick the ketchup off of his food.

Now that the summer has started we have found that growing our own vegetables really helps with his eating. He loves going into the garden, finding the ripe fruits and vegetables, and helping us pick them. Most of the time they don't even make it inside, he usually eats the cherry tomatoes and green beans right off of the vine. Which is fine by me, as long as it's getting eaten I don't care when or where it's happening.

Most bloggers would now go into a lengthy description of how to tend a garden but I am well known for my black thumb. I am very proud of the succulents that I've kept alive for almost a year now. Before you tell me that succulents are impossible to kill, making my feat unimpressive, you must know that this is my 3rd attempt at growing succulents. Like all of the things that people find impressive about our home I give Jeff full credit for our garden.

The moral of this post is that if you want your kids to eat more vegetables try growing some and involving them in the process. If you live in a small apartment or condo no need to worry, I know plenty of people that grow tomatoes and other small fruits and veggies on their balconies or condo porches. The second moral is don't take any gardening advice from me, but you're in luck. Since the internet was invented we have the world at our fingertips, so you can just Google it!