It doesn’t seem that long ago, when my girls were all still in the single digits, that I remember being forever struck by the sight of mothers with “older” kids, women I’d spot at the supermarket or park or on the bus. They seemed to be on a different plane of parenthood altogether, accompanied by children who no longer needed to be rocked, strolled, corralled, fed, or burped.
I realize I’m that mom now, the one with middle schoolers and high schoolers, including one pulling up on the tail end of her senior year. This takes getting used to. In some ways, it’s heartbreaking to have them moving up and moving on at a pace that’s faster than I can wrap my mind around. But in so many other ways, it’s immensely satisfying to see the payoff of so much care, time, love, and work. I am grateful, for example, to have early childhood feeding worries and woes long behind me. Today, my kids eat widely and well, they don’t spill their milk every night, they can grocery shop, cook, and do the dishes when it’s their turn at the sink.
Recently, my friend Sally at Real Mom Nutrition asked if I’d write about my experience raising adventurous eaters. I wasn’t sure I had much to say, until I sat down and thought about it; turns out I do. Head here to read my post on how to get your kids to eat (almost) everything.