World's Worst Mom

that's me.

My kids are not enthusiastic eaters of fruits and vegetables. That is putting it mildly. I've been trying to feed them properly since I got them (Their prenatal nutrition was excellent!), and they were okay with pureed bananas, but bananas were as far into the wonderful world of fruits and vegis as they would willingly venture.

Still, at dinner every night (okay, most nights) I require that they consume a serving of fruit or vegetable (both would be good, but I can only stand so much conflict. and I give them multi-vitamins.). Tonight Katie had a carrot. We were out of bananas, and Travis declined oranges, apples, and applesauce. Things were getting ugly. I told him to look in the pantry (thinking maybe he'd like canned peaches or pears). "I'll eat jam!" he said.
        "Jam isn't a fruit; it's a condiment."
        "It's grapes."
        "It's sugar!"
        "Grapes are the first ingredient -- look!"  He showed me the label. Grapes are the first ingredient -- right before the high fructose corn syrup.
        "Fine,"  I said. "Half a cup of jam and we'll call it a serving of fruit."

     He was surprised but since he was winning, cautiously pleased. I think he knew there was a catch of some sort.  So he measured out half a cup of jam.

(here he is noticing that jam is very sweet...)

 (but he is stubborn!)

He ate it. Every spoonful.

And he didn't throw up, which had been Ed's prediction.

He says he won't eat jam again (as a fruit), though, and later, when I told him I had thought he'd choose canned fruit, he said that of course he Would have if he'd seen any. So he did learn a lesson after all! (He learned that we keep the canned fruit on the lower right hand shelf of the pantry. And that jam Is a condiment, not a fruit.)