I want to share a personal story to illustrate what I was talking about in the previous post. This is one of my small successes as a parent that I cherish amidst my sometimes frustrating mistakes. Last night my two girls were in a great mood, but both of them refused to eat their dinner. I had a few choices of “parenting approaches.” I could bribe them with dessert, threaten them with some consequence, require them to stay in their chairs until they ate or just patiently encourage them to eat.
I spontaneously decided to grab my guitar and sing a song about eating. I told them that I would only sing when each of them took a bite. I then launched into a very silly version of a made up song called “Chew, chew, chew.” In between hilarious laughter and big bites they finished all of their dinner. We all had a great time and the end result was a positive memory, a stronger connection and two full bellies. Not to mention, a grateful wife who did not need to face the “dinner battle” on this particular evening.
Photo credit: Angela Cole
About Uriah Guilford
