Our backup is whole-wheat bread. You don’t like what we’re serving for dinner? Have a slice of bread. You just realized, five minutes before bedtime, after you took three bites of dinner and then ran off to play, that you’re HUNGRY? Have a slice of bread.
Also, the “you must finish all the X on your plate before you can have any more Y” gambit.
An important part of the technique, which seems to be implied but not really stressed in the article, is projecting an attitude of indifference about whether the kid chooses the meal you made, or the backup, or decides that he or she really isn’t that hungry after all. A child who perceives mealtime as a power struggle with parents may become more interested in winning than in anything else, including satisfying his or her own hunger. And as long as the child isn’t dangerously underweight, having an occasional less-than-balanced meal or even going to bed a little hungry isn’t going to do permanent damage.
no subject
Also, the “you must finish all the X on your plate before you can have any more Y” gambit.
An important part of the technique, which seems to be implied but not really stressed in the article, is projecting an attitude of indifference about whether the kid chooses the meal you made, or the backup, or decides that he or she really isn’t that hungry after all. A child who perceives mealtime as a power struggle with parents may become more interested in winning than in anything else, including satisfying his or her own hunger. And as long as the child isn’t dangerously underweight, having an occasional less-than-balanced meal or even going to bed a little hungry isn’t going to do permanent damage.
(And I agree with