The cure for picky eaters, by Luciana

Luciana has been going through a phase of being an extremely picky eater. She has been eliminating foods from her diet on an almost daily basis lately, and it's driving me crazy! I've tried to ignore it, use logic, use humor, tell her fine but no treats/snacks for the rest of the day or week--it has continued to get worse.

Tonight, again, she refused to eat her dinner. My mother prepared a very tasty winter chili, and L. wouldn't eat it, even with the threat of dire punishment. She claimed that it burned her tongue (it was NOT spicy, and it wasn't too hot). In a compromise to mitigate some of the punishment she earned for a) not eating perfectly good, healthy food and b) being rude by not eating something that someone worked hard to prepare, I gave her an assignment. Keep in mind that I am a picky eater with major texture issues. I simply tolerate a lot of what I eat, but can't get her to understand that even if you don't LOVE something, it won't hurt you to eat it. I totally understand not eating things that gag you or cause you to vomit, but that's not the case with her. She simply doesn't LOVE it. Anyway, she had to come up with a list of at least five things she could do to prevent this behavior in the future. Here is her list:

1. Bite my tongue, so I don't complain.

2. Just eat it and don't even think how bad it is.

3. Think about how bad a tattoo would hurt compared to a tongue burn.

4. Think, is it really worth punishment?

5. And think about poor people who eat bugs.

There you have it. A sure-fire cure for all the picky eaters in the world. =D I'm sure now that she's crafted this plan, we will never have problems with mealtime again. [/sarcasm]