Food Challenges

I finally found a brand of chicken nuggets Noah would eat since he stopped eating the dino shaped nuggets. A small victory for me!

I have to give a credit for Aly for being a relatively good eater.

I love food, but the meal times are not my favorite time of the day. I am busy as a chef in the popular restaurant, but my kids are tough customers. I am usually spinning around in the kitchen pouring three different types of milk in their cups, opening and closing fridge and microwaves, in the mean time making sure they wash their hands. Aly would say that she can't pump the soap out of the dispenser and I quickly run to the sink and help her. I must chase Saya because she loves playing catch me game and she would resist like a wiggly piglet once I catch her and wash her hands. Noah is either clinging to my leg and whining because he is either super hungry, or getting into things in the room he's not supposed to be in because he has slightest interest in eating. I have to hunt him down and help him wash hands before he sits down to his favorite spot of the day for a meal.

Aly and Saya are relatively good in terms of eating their food.

Alyson is getting somewhat pickier these days and leaves some vegetables on her plate. She dislikes carrots and she would not eat even her favorite curry rice if she spots bits of carrots inside. She eats mostly by spoon, but she uses her hands towards the end of the meal - bad habit I must correct but a little difficult to pay attention to.

Saya is my best eater and hope she remains that way. She is starting to leave some veggies on her plate but she is more adventurous than Alyson. Her favorite is miso soup and she is not a fan of any rice dish that has wetter textures like curry rice or wet fried rice. She does well with pasta, though. Both Aly and Saya love fruits and they can both eat an entire naval orange each all by themselves! Her appetite is slowing down though as she is getting older.

And then there is Noah. I say it in a a little somber tone because he is a terrible eater! Many children on autism spectrum are extremely picky eaters and Noah is a classic example. He eats two or three rice pancakes I make in the morning with his vitamin fortified soy milk. He sometimes has soy yogurt with fruit flavored fish oil mixed into it if he has time. For lunch, he eats a bowl of white rice (sometimes mix in some salmon flakes), a certain kind of chicken nuggets about 3 pieces, and a jar of baby food with vegetables. He would not eat veggies any other way than pureed. I tell myself that at least he eats it... but I do worry what is going to happen once he starts attending all day school! For dinner, he has two loaves of bread or a bowl of rice, yogurt with omega3, another set of chicken nuggets, and purred veggies. Other than the food I listed, he eats raisins, multi-grain Cherios (I decided to allow this even though it has oats, barley and wheat due to the lack of variety), bananas, and applesauce occasionally. He likes crunchy textured snacks like crackers also. That is about it. He would not eat anything else.

I used to picture myself making my signature dish for my children and my grateful children would savor every bits of it because they love me and they love my food. In Japan, mother's cooking is like a blanket in the cold night, a token of love, a very thing that bond the family... So far, the reality is far from the picture I had, but maybe someday my kids would even miss my food when they are off to college. If that ever happens, I will be one happy Mom!!