Let me preface this by saying that these tips come from my own experience with my very own picky eater. The biggest thing I've learned in having a picky eater is you have to be patient, flexible, and know that what works for some doesn't always work for all! And that works one day may not work the next! At the end of the day, the goal is to have an enjoyable and peaceful Thanksgiving day meal with loved ones.
1. Do not battle. My first tip is to not make Thanksgiving a day to battle at the dinner table. Everyone with a picky eater knows what I mean. Yes, we want our kids to try new foods. But do you really want that battle today? I don't. So what do I do? I make sure there is at least one item I know my picky eater will eat. My picky eater loves my homemade macaroni and cheese so I make sure it's on our table. If we aren't having Thanksgiving at home I offer to bring it as a side dish to share with everyone. (Always making sure my picky eater gets first dibs at it!)
2. Do a dry run. Find out what's going to be on the menu Thanksgiving day and start taste testing new items a few days ahead of time. If you are cooking it all yourself this is super easy or give grandma a quick call and explain you want to prepare your picky eater ahead of time for what will be served so she understands why you are checking the menu ahead of time.
3. Let your child know ahead of time your expectations. My picky eater is old enough to understand that he is going to have to try new foods at Thanksgiving. He also knows that there will be at least one thing on his plate he loves to eat. That's fair, right? Picky eaters don't always like surprises so talking ahead of time about what mealtime is going to look like is important.
4. Give choices. I love to empower my picky eater so he gets to choose the foods he has to try. He knows he'll have to try a vegetable so he gets to choose if it's the green beans or the carrots. Mashed potatoes or stuffing. He also knows turkey is not an option but he can choose cranberry sauce, gravy, or nothing. Kids like choices! I also want to note that when setting our expectations we talked about how many bites he has to try for each new food. No surprises, remember? For us it's 3 bites of each new food. After he tries all his new foods he can keep eating them or move onto the tried and true macaroni and cheese.
5. Do little things to make the meal more fun. Use a special plate or utensils. Wear a pilgrim hat. Drink out of the fancy glasses. Make up funny names for the foods like "green power swords" instead of green beans. Bottom line is you want to keep it light and fun. Remember tip #1? NO BATTLES on Thanksgiving! If things don't go as planned it's ok. Serve up that macaroni and cheese and remember there's always next year!
Visit our Thanksgiving board on Pinterest for some fun ideas.
What tips do you have for handling holidays with a picky eater? Please comment below!
