Closed Eye Bite

I seem to recall from elementary school some little riddle that went like this, “Open your mouth, and close your eyes, and you will get a big surprise!” I am pretty sure what followed usually was not a good type of surprise, but that little saying came to mind when we were challenging R and G to try something with noticeable onions in it. My sweet R used eat anything, I mean anything, we put in front of him. But recently he has hit that somewhat inevitable stage of kiddie eating where he starts to pick at his food and ask "what's this?!" It is frustrating to me because I know he has eaten things like onions, tomatoes, and celery pieces for years and loved them. I don't know if it just a stage every child goes through or something he picked up at a friend's house (ie, seeing a friend say the same to his parents), but the fact is, he is a food picker now. R has also inherited his dad's ability to negotiate like a star, so my attempts at reasoning with him fall short. So I've turned to a method that seems to be working in a big way. SPH and I challenge R to try a bite with his eyes closed and guess which one has the offending food item in it. For instance, when we had the Slow Cooker Hamburger Soup I posted yesterday, I tried to have him guess if there was an onion in a bite or not. Sure enough, he couldn't tell which had the onion in it, and although he still didn't eat all the onions, I think it demonstrated to him that while certain foods might look unappealing, the taste can still be great. The added bonus is that now G wants in on the action and will do "closed eye bites" too. So, I share this method for what it is worth. Here's hoping it may get some good results at your dinner table. Have a great weekend- SPC