ines's Profile

@pearmelon I agree about strictness and I have tactically designed my home menus so my kids learn how to eat many things and we are a from scratch, fresh, organic food kind of family. (but we enjoy our moments of decadence as long as it's natural!) And my kids know that objecting and whining isn't going to get them anywhere.

My biggest prob is lunch. It's appalling what other kids eat. My son used to eat chicken soup in the thermos, raw veggies, fruit etc as an example and now it's a struggle to find something he will eat. He won't eat sandwiches. Says the hot food tastes bad in the thermos. And the old let him get hungry he'll learn routine just doesn't work. He's quite fine not eating lunch 5 days in a row and having 5 meltdowns after school if his stomach is empty.

Feeding an 18 month old was a cakewalk. Feeding a school aged kid can be very trying.

I agree with one of the previous posters that in the long run it works--I was a horribly picky eater from baby times to high school. I now eat everything. And what's more my palate has been conditioned by years of my mediterranean mother's cooking to hate sickly sweet things, and crave veggies, olive oil, grilled fish etc.

I just need to find a way to get through the next 10 years ;-)

There is something about the book thing...if you love to read and you love books they can takeover your life. However, I cannot bear to rid myself of books I love. My solution, somewhat imperfect, is to not buy a single book unless I absolutely love it and know I will refer to it. I take everything out of the library. Or if not convenient, literally gift books within a week of having read them, if they are not special to me.

I definitely own too much stuff so this may sound like the alcoholic praising the virtues of one glass of red wine per day but I find that people who own very few things are usually very boring. They usually haven't lived and traveled widely. They don't have deep interests/hobbies etc. They usually seem more interested in tidiness than LIFE.

The homes that most appeal to me are the ones that have wonderful, special, choice things but have arranged things so that everything has its place and lends warmth and interest but is not busy and cluttered.

THAT is nirvana to me.