Stop eating my cheese!

You know all of those articles in the womens magazines that give tips on how to get your kids to eat more than mac and cheese and chicken strips? Yeah, I don't have that problem. My kids are good eaters. They always have been. They eat what I give them. Don't get me wrong, they have things they don't like. I do too. But they tried those things before deciding they didn't like them. And they continue to try and have changed thier minds about foods they previously passed on.

I love the stares we get in the super market when my girls beg for artichokes and broccoli and do little dances when I go for the fresh green beans. I was so proud the other night at karate when Linden was eating her chicken curry and brown rice while the other kids were wrinkling their noses at her and when Jeanne filled her bowl at the Mongolian BBQ with tofu. Not to say they don't also beg for cookies and candy and cheese in a can. They do like their chicken strips as well as the next kid. Fortunately they get the difference between "everday" food and "sometimes" food.

All of this leads me to current problem. My cheese problem. The girls and I were trying to think of something to get for dinner last night. Linden suggested Burgerville. Jeanne wanted to go to the new Laotian restaurant. Then Linden asked for a Lunchable which gave me the most wonderful idea for a hot summer night, cheese and fruit! We cruised the cheeses and the produce at Fred Meyer and came hope with watermelon, papaya, pineapple, black grapes, cherries, Greek olives, brie, blue cheese, a hard cheddar and hummus (Jeanne begged for the hummus). Was a perfect dinner except for one thing. They ate all of my cheese.

I found a good ripe brie. That's not easy task around here where everybody seems to like hard, bland brie. This was probably a mistake that didn't get pulled from the shelf or something but I was happy. Finally a full flavored, pungent brie! Surely the kids would pass based on the smell alone. They can have the plastic cheese in the back of the fridge or something. But no. My kids, being the good food eating, taste it before you decide kids, tried my brie. And they liked it. And they ate it. They ate all of it. They ate all of my wonderful, smelly, ripe, expensive brie.

They ate everything else too, just so you know.

So next time you read one of those articles about how to sneak good food into your kid's Spaghettios or make your toddler try something new, think about this..."Do you really want your kids to eat all of your cheese?"