Meal times should be fun times

Sometimes, after a hard day's work and coming home to a bomb site in the living room and a teenager's bedroom with rotting unidentified old food stuffed under the bed, I do wonder why it was that I wanted a family and in that moment, I do take comfort from the thought that there are probably a million other mums experiencing exactly that same thought all over the world that night.

But, I do know why I had a child really - it was because, I like children and I liked the idea of having someone I could love and nurture and watch and help grow into a beautiful grown up who will give me grandchildren!

And the latter is what I want to think about when we sit down to our supper at night.  I want to emulate in a small way those wonderful Italian outdoor family meals we see in films, where everyone is laughing and chattering and passing each other fabulous looking food - even if it's only the two of us.  I want meal times to be a time where we unpick our day, moan about the ignorant guy in the car park who nicked my space, hear about how her little buddy at school has fallen out with her imaginary friends again, talk about what to wear on mufty day to wind up that stick-in-the-mud teacher and just know about each other's days and lives whilst sharing food and talking about it too.

At the end of a day, I do not want to have to pick a fight.  I do not want to fall out with my child and send her off to bed on a bad note whilst I sit in front of the TV with a feeling of disappointment and unease.  And, I don't want to put the same plate of food that she won't eat in front of her night after night until she caves in from hunger and eats something that isn't currently in her pallet.

Say your child takes the view that vegetables are poisonous - I have a nephew just like that - if you don't want to fight with him (or her!) about it, why not disguise them in a meal he will eat?  No need to tell him - just enjoy the food together and feel smugly happy that your child just got something he needed and liked it and don't stress about the fact he also ate a bunch of stuff he didn't need - he was going to do that anyway, whether you liked it or not.

I know this goes against what the current child psychology gurus preach - but gurus have got it wrong before............

So........grate carrot into your bolognese sauce, mash cauliflower into your mashed spuds (with plenty of butter), puree parsnip into banana dishes and start on the road to stealth health!