Reply to Should I force DD to sit with us at dinner?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here.  Thank you for all of your interesting perspectives.  Full disclosure--as some of you suggested, there is a bit of a picky eating element to this as well as a power struggle, which is why originally we chose not to engage.

After reading all of your responses, I spoke with DD before dinner and explained why I thought it was important for us to eat together as a family and asked her if she could think of a solution.  Right away, she suggested that we all eat what we like but that the serving dishes not remain on the table.  I told her I thought that was a good idea and we all sat down to dinner together.

She seemed kind of grossed out by the meat on the rest of our plates and gave it some dirty looks, but I reminded her that this was her idea and to not worry about what was on others' plates.  She started eating her own food and seemed to forget about it.  We had a very nice dinner.

Again, I really appreciate those of you who weighed in, especially the vegetarians.  DD often mentions the smell so I know that is part of the issue.

Also, as a footnote, my sister was a picky eater growing up and watching her being forced to eat things she hated resulted in a lot of tears and made for many unpleasant dinners.  She remains a very picky eater to this day, so I am hesitant to force kids to eat things as it seems to me to be ineffective.[/quote]

OP, sounds like you are handling this well.  As a sidenote, I wonder if there is some other avenue into which your DD could channel her anti-meat feelings... maybe she could support a group that rescues farm animals?  (I am making this up and don't even know if a group like this exists, but you get the gist)  Basically, I wonder if there's a way by which she could feel she's expressing her preferences in a way that's positive and even furthers some bigger goal... then maybe the dinner issue will become less of the place to take a stand.

I also agree with more meatless dinners for everyone which is healthier all around!  (I am not a vegetarian)[/quote]

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