Originally Posted by JBWWCC:
I have never had a kid this picky in my entire daycare career. He literally won't eat ANYTHING. I made rainbow pancakes this morning hoping the color would excite him/ encourage him to eat. Every single meal I make, he says "I don't like that" "I've tried it 10 times at home and I don't like it" Having mom pack a lunch from home is not an option because she will bring ho-hos, chocolate cupcakes and ritz crackers. It's obvious he isn't encouraged to eat properly at home. I should mention he is 8! Freaking 8! I've tried the 2 bites and you can be done. I've tried, that's-what-we-are-having-eat-it. You-can't-get-up-until-its-gone. Etc etc. etc. I'm SO tired of wasting food on this kid that I'm about to term. Advice?
Pick your battles. Let this one go. I know it's frustrating. I've had a few kids in my care who were super picky. One wouldn't eat the grill cheese sandwich I made because I cut it lengthwise vs. diagonally. She would also whine, "That's not how my mother makes it" no matter what I served. It didn't matter what it was. Another kid went home hungry every single day for 5 years because if it wasn't junk food being served, she wasn't going to eat it. When I first started doing day care, picky eating used to drive me absolutely crazy! After thinking about it, I finally realized: The food has been bought. The money's been spent. I'm out that money whether they eat or they don't. Once I realized that, I stopped stressing about wasted food. Honestly, it saved a little bit of my sanity. If I know it's a food other kids will want seconds on, I'll give the picky eater a small amount. I set aside the rest of his serving. If he eats, great. I'll offer more. If he doesn't, I offer the rest to someone else, lessening some of the waste.
