choosing your battles

two of my kids are complete opposites when it comes to food...

garland will eat anything that is put in front of her - and lots of it!
liam has a list of about 8 things that he will eat and that is IT.

i have spent about 2 years now fretting over the fact that my son does not seem to enjoy food. i have forced him to try things, pleaded with him, ignored him, starved him, prayed for him...everything! all to no avail.

i recently made a huge discovery about liam. he is a highly sensitive child and simply prefers to stick with what he knows.

Parenting A Highly Sensitive Child
By Terri Goodwell
"I have also learned that highly sensitive children have accentuated taste buds and food preferences. Now, I simply deal with my daughter’s needing one shape noodle over another, her having to eat one food thoroughly before starting the next thing on her plate, her refusal to eat anything bruised, misshapen, or imperfect in any way, and her avoidance of mixing foods at all costs. Lisa, the mother of Nicholas, says, “for years now he’s been a picky eater, at one time agreeing to eat only 7 or 8 foods, and refusing to try anything new."

so now we are choosing our food battles.
he will drink a smoothie in the morning and i make sure that i power pack it with goodness. he gets a multi-vitamin and then i relax.
if he grazes on raisins, flax chips and granola bar all day, then so be it.
he's healthy and he's happy.