The Great Carrot Battle of '08

Everyday at lunch I try to make sure that my 4 children eat a well rounded lunch. I usually try to include a protein, a carb, veggies and fruit. If that goes well, then they can have a piece of gum or candy after lunch.

For the veggie, I almost always serve raw baby carrots...they are easy and very good for them. All of my children, except my oldest, will eat the carrots without saying a word. My oldest, on the other hand, usually rolls his eyes and says something like, "not carrots". Then he proceeds to search through the bag for the two smallest baby carrots he can find.

The other day he was really having a hard time getting the carrots down. The other children had already eaten their lunches, had their pieces of candy and were off playing. I was standing there watching him try and choke down this carrot, all the while laughing on the inside. I was laughing because I was thinking, "kid, is it really that big of a deal to eat that measly little carrot". Then it dawned on me...how many times have I thrown a fit that I really didn't want to eat that healthy food, I'd rather have something "good". The only difference is I don't have someone standing over my shoulder making me eat the healthy stuff.

We have a motto in our house. We tell the children, "we don't live to eat, we eat to live". The difference between these two things is that in the first one, the food is controlling us and in the second, we control the food. I think we need to start reminding ourselves who is in control when it comes to eating. When we "live to eat", we don't end up living to well or too long.