Best and Worst Restaurants for Kids

Dawn Albrecht — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:50:00 GMT

A reportcard for chain restaurants has come out from the writers/publishers of Eat This Not That for Kids. Here's a link to the selection:

http://www.menshealth.com/eatthis/Restaurant-Report-Kids/

While I agree with most of it, what your child eats is really a reflection of what you let him eat. If we go to McDonalds (*gasp*) and get a yogurt parfait - it's pretty healthy. If we go to McD's and get a big mac and fries - not so healthy.

We don't got to McD's often and when we do I steer my kids away from the worst of it. I know it's not good for them, but if we ban everything that's not good for them they're going to binge as soon as they get the chance to eat the forbidden foods. Teaching moderation is what it's all about. OK, we will eat at Taco Bell for lunch, but we won't eat out again this week - or we will have a huge salad and grilled chicken for dinner.

One thing to watch - does your child get an upset stomach after eating at a fast food restaurant? Mine do sometimes. I make note of it and bring it up with them... "Why do you think your stomach hurts?" Then they start realizing that the food they eat affects how they feel.

My kids are at the age when they want to start ordering from the adult menu. Great! A bigger variety for them to choose from. However, the meals are too big for them. My advice? Spilt a meal with your children or have them share. I've split numerous meals with one of my kids when they want what I'm having. It keeps me from overeating and gives them something a bit more healthy than the chicken fingers and fries option on the kids menu.

What are your favorite items on the kids menu?

Fighting the urge to be picky

Dawn Albrecht — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:34:00 GMT

I am the picky eater in my family of five. My husband, daughter, age 9 (almost 10), and my twin 8-year-old sons will try anything. My kids think it’s absolutely hilarious when I squirm watching them eat sushi or oysters. They also love to challenge me to try new things.

Last week is a perfect example. We spent the week touring Washington DC and visiting relatives. My family ate sushi just outside of Chinatown, I ate vegetable tempura. They ate sushi at the mall in Pentagon City, I ate pizza.

Overall, I had gotten off pretty easily until the last night of vacation when we found a great seafood/steak house. My husband and kids had the fresh blue-tipped oyster appetizer. The oysters were in the ocean just that morning – can’t get too much fresher than that! My kids each ate one and then they turned to me. “Mom, you have to try these! They’re gooooood.”

There was one left. Thoughts raced through my head. Was I up for the challenge? Where was the bathroom in case I needed to spit it out? What if I started to gag?

My husband can be the voice of wisdom in times like these. He promised that they were very fresh and didn’t taste fishy.

Three sets of young eyes watched me, waiting to see if I would eat the oyster. “OK, I’ll try one.” I said, not sure I would follow through with it.

It took a while to work up the courage to put something that I thought looked like boogers in my mouth. Even as I raised the shell to my mouth I still wasn’t sure I could do it. My kids realized that I was thinking of backing down, so they started to encourage me. “You can do it mom.” And my favorite line, “I promise it won’t kill you to try it.”

I managed to get it into my mouth and chew a few times before swallowing. While I won’t be ordering oysters for myself anytime soon, I will say it wasn’t all that bad. My kids were proud of me for trying something new.

So next time your kids don’t want to try something new, just remember how hard it was for a mom to try something new. It’s OK if you don’t like everything!

Family Food Fight : Picky Eaters

Best and Worst Restaurants for Kids

Fighting the urge to be picky