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

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[quote=Anonymous][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]

This is a great way to handle it! I think you could also just pretend the gross looks didn't happen and she would eventually stop making them.

I would not force kids to eat either. I give my formerly picky kid choices. As in, I cook, he chooses whether or not to eat what is served. It has worked well, and I always make sure to serve something that he is familiar with (whether it's the veggie or main dish) and that seems to make trying something new less scary for some reason. [/quote]

Yay, OP. Way to go on engaging your DD!!! I am pretty appalled at the posters on who who feel the need to be in control of their children. Yes their are basic rules that kids must follow, the the vernacular used on this thread goes beyond that. [/quote]

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