Random question for you...

On a scale of 1-10 how much do you like tomatoes?

I can honestly say I do NOT. I have a very hard time tolerating raw tomatoes in my mouth. For me it's a texture thing.

I love tomato sauce (Costco White Linen brand is my fav),

tomato soup.. yum!

cooked tomatoes.... not my fav, but don't mind them.

Am I weird!?! This is something I'm working on. I often go back to trying little bits and pieces of raw tomatoes in my salads and recipes. I'm starting to tolerate small little pieces in salads but it's a work in progress.

So I'm telling you my deepest and darkest secrets here because I faced a huge challenge when it came time to introduce my children to tomatoes.

I must say I was a bit stumped. I was so enthusiastic about all the other foods that I introduced to them before the red round veg. How the heck was I going to do this!?!

Well mamas & papas...

I did it.

My children are just about 5 & 3 and both of them eat tomatoes. raw tomatoes. cooked tomatoes. tomato sauce. and everything in between.

I recently shared my "how to" with a client of mine and thought this would be good for any parent who is teaching their child to eat a new food that they themselves might not necessarily like. I can't stress enough how much your attitude and behaviour towards food directly effects your child's. Please be very mindful of your actions and approach when teaching your child to eat. We are all in the business of raising well balanced children who have a healthy relationship with food.

More on the importance of that healthy relationship to come. But for now….

3 Strategies for teaching your child to eat foods you don't necessarily like yourself.

1. Check your shit at the door. Regardless of how much you dislike a food, when you introduce and feed it to your child you make absolutely no mention of your preference, or lack there of. You approach the situation in a very neutral way and serve it up like it's no big deal. Watch your body language here- kids can read you like a book. This means your facial expressions, the way you look at the food, and your proximity to the food. When I put tomatoes on the table, I simply act the same way as if I were putting a juicy watermelon out for grabs (love watermelon!). I welcome it to the table and show the exact same enthusiasm.

2. Choose a model. Being mindful in this process includes thinking things through before putting food on the table. If you are going to introduce your child to a food that you will NOT eat then make sure to introduce it when there's someone around that will eat it. So... in the early days when tomatoes came up on my list, I made sure to introduce it for the first couple of times while my husband was home. It's important that children see us eat the food we are asking them to eat. Children learn directly through their environment! They are looking to you for that thumbs up or down.

3. Choose 1 Interaction- A big part of teaching kids how to eat has to do with how they're exposed to foods at a young age. The process of teaching your child to eat is NOT limited to them putting food in their mouth and deciding if they like it or not.  Dietician, Ahuva Magder Hershkop uses the first date analogy, which I really love. She always questions whether or not you'd kiss a person on a first/blind date. Most people would say 'no' (no judgement here if you're a 'yes') but you'd take your time to get to know the person, feel them out, and over time decide if you're into them or not before you lunge in for that first kiss. Kids are no different with food. Sometimes they need to interact with food in different ways before they are willing to take a bite. So this is your chance to pick up that tomato and find something to do with it, other than eat it. Play with it together, smush it up, blend it, juice it, whatever floats your boat. Just remember that you can introduce it to your child without any pressure to actually consume it!

You've got this!

Cori

p.s. There are ONLY 3 tickets left for my event next week "Transitioning into Kindergarten". If you've got a 2015 baby, this one's for you. If you haven't already starting prepping your child for this HUGE transition, you better get going. Come kick off you Kindergarten prep with me next week. All the info you need is right here!