Where on earth did Christmas and New Year's Day go!? They went by in such a flash and I feel like I barely got to savor any of it! In spite of the rushed feeling, however, we had a great time. The kids and I took a much-needed two week break from school work. It has been a few years since I have "officially" done this. Having time to devote to baking, cookie decorating, and even some ornament making was so much nicer than trying to cram it in between lessons.
Samuel, in his "life is all about DVDs and VHS tapes" style, is refusing to acknowledge the new year as 2010, but instead is calling it "The Remake of 2009." As he looked at his calendar last week he said things like, "The original 2009 is ending. January 1st is the start of the Remake of 2009!"
One of a few nice surprises that have come up with Samuel recently are that we have been able to take him to different masses at church with mostly nice results. For a while I only felt comfortable taking him to one particular mass that did not have music. In the past month he has been able to endure not only music, but also the priest who he had been quite afraid of. I still have to take him out for a "break" during the homily so it is hard for me to ever get to hear it. It seems that he can take the noise in the church when it is in the form of prayers and readings he is familiar with, but when a priest gets up and talks more freely during the homily (sometimes with very heartfelt emotion), it is more than he can handle. He is even more sensitive in the vestibule area, where the speaker volume is often very high, so we usually have to retreat to the stairwell of the church building. It's all a part of the long road we're travelling on to teach Samuel the importance of God and of his faith in his life. Samuel will be making his First Penance and First Communion this year, and I am so grateful that for going on three years now I have been able to take him into the church and sit with him for a good portion of mass each week.
An even more recent surprise with Samuel is that he has become much more accepting of eating the foods I prepare for the entire family at dinner time. For years I had to have a back-up dinner for Samuel, and often for his younger siblings as well. This past year I tried to have the kids eat what I prepared instead of having to make another meal, it just got to be too much to have to make 2 and sometimes 3 entrees. The rest of the kids went along quite well, but it was always tough with Samuel. In the last few weeks however there were some days I just didn't feel like going through the trouble of preparing anything else and I just put a plate in front of Samuel. Much to my surprise he actually ate what I served! I have found that casserole-type entrees go over the best for him. He does not seem to like eating meat. He is tolerating pasta much better now as well.
Best wishes for a terrific 2010!
Showing posts with label Food aversions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food aversions. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
"Real" Chicken!
As the years have gone by, Samuel has gotten more particular about the food he eats. I have noticed he reacts to the smell and the texture. Years ago, he ate all his baby food just fine and started out on table food, but by the time he was three or four he would no longer eat pasta, with the exception of macaroni and cheese. He began to turn that away at about age six, at which time he would no longer eat hamburgers that I cooked at home (he eats fast food burgers without a problem).
Anyways, his repertoire of mealtime entrees now consists of chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pizza, grilled cheese and hot dogs. Even though he is rather particular, I feel fortunate that he eats the "variety" of food that he does. He eats canned green beans and carrots, applesauce, canned peaches and pears, raisins, and fresh apples and grapes. For convenience sake, especially having to deal with additional siblings and a husband to feed, for several years I did not push the issue of expanding the food horizons of any of my children. That is beginning to change. On the evenings that I don't prepare spicy food for the adults, I have been getting my children to sample other food. It has been going quite well, especially with my youngest son and daughter. Samuel, on the other hand, hasn't been so cooperative.
On Sunday I prepared a roasted chicken for dinner. I decided to throw down the gauntlet with Samuel and make him sample it. He protested loudly and ran away from the table. I let him sit in the family room adjacent to our kitchen while we ate. I did not give in and prepare a few chicken nuggets for him like I usually do. My husband and I kept telling him, "This is what your chicken nuggets are made of. This is "real" chicken!" The rest of us ate and went on our way. As I was doing the dishes, before I really even had a chance to think about Samuel eating, he came into the kitchen and said "Okay, I'm hungry, I'll eat chicken." (There was a tone of defeat in his voice - he can be so dramatic!) I sat with him and put a small bite of chicken on his fork. He smelled it as I put it to his mouth and he started to balk, but I urged him to try. At first he just touched it with his lips and within several tries he ate it! Then he ate the rest of it himself. I couldn't get him to touch the steamed carrots and mashed potatoes, but I was still thrilled with this little victory!
Anyways, his repertoire of mealtime entrees now consists of chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pizza, grilled cheese and hot dogs. Even though he is rather particular, I feel fortunate that he eats the "variety" of food that he does. He eats canned green beans and carrots, applesauce, canned peaches and pears, raisins, and fresh apples and grapes. For convenience sake, especially having to deal with additional siblings and a husband to feed, for several years I did not push the issue of expanding the food horizons of any of my children. That is beginning to change. On the evenings that I don't prepare spicy food for the adults, I have been getting my children to sample other food. It has been going quite well, especially with my youngest son and daughter. Samuel, on the other hand, hasn't been so cooperative.
On Sunday I prepared a roasted chicken for dinner. I decided to throw down the gauntlet with Samuel and make him sample it. He protested loudly and ran away from the table. I let him sit in the family room adjacent to our kitchen while we ate. I did not give in and prepare a few chicken nuggets for him like I usually do. My husband and I kept telling him, "This is what your chicken nuggets are made of. This is "real" chicken!" The rest of us ate and went on our way. As I was doing the dishes, before I really even had a chance to think about Samuel eating, he came into the kitchen and said "Okay, I'm hungry, I'll eat chicken." (There was a tone of defeat in his voice - he can be so dramatic!) I sat with him and put a small bite of chicken on his fork. He smelled it as I put it to his mouth and he started to balk, but I urged him to try. At first he just touched it with his lips and within several tries he ate it! Then he ate the rest of it himself. I couldn't get him to touch the steamed carrots and mashed potatoes, but I was still thrilled with this little victory!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Where Did this Past Week Go?
Wow, time is flying on by! I have been very absorbed in trying to clean and organize my house.. an ongoing project for me. I'm also working hard to finish my oldest son's school year, and have been busy making lessons up for Samuel and his youger brother, who will start kindergarten this fall.
Samuel has been very caught up in a Playstation game, Jack and Daxter. He and his younger brother like to play it. It involves visiting various locations, so Samuel now "plays" this game while he is outside. There are 4 or 5 locations in the backyard he sits and goes through this game in his mind. Each location he plays at represents a particular location in the game. While he is doing this he sifts through the dirt or pine straw or sand that happens to be there. This week I'll be breaking the news to Samuel and his younger brother that starting next week we'll be taking a "break" from this game!
One night last week I had Samuel try something new for dinner, meatloaf. His brothers ate it without a problem. I had to provide soda as a reinforcer for trying it. He has not liked hamburgers lately so I figured he wouldn't be very willing to try meatloaf. As I asked him to eat it I made sure he knew a sip of soda would follow. He was not happy! He leaned over, SMELLED it and said "I don't want to eat STINKYBURGERS!" Now there's a new name for meatloaf!
I have noticed an increased sensitivity to smell with Samuel in the last few months. He smells his food, he smells other people's skin (usually their arms), and he smells his own skin and his armpits! While I was kind of sad he didn't like my cooking (though I didn't care for meatloaf as a child either!), it was enlightening to know WHY he didn't like it and I was glad that he was able to tell me this.
In the last week or so Samuel's interest in watching videos has returned. Watching videos has taken a back seat to playing on the computer for quite some time now. As his interest in videos increased his interest in playing on the computer has decreased. As always, he likes carrying around videos with him. He took quite a selection with him on our vacation. I limited it to what he could carry in a small canvas bag. He likes to carry them with him when we go out at home too. I make sure I specify to him that they STAY IN THE CAR.
Samuel has been very caught up in a Playstation game, Jack and Daxter. He and his younger brother like to play it. It involves visiting various locations, so Samuel now "plays" this game while he is outside. There are 4 or 5 locations in the backyard he sits and goes through this game in his mind. Each location he plays at represents a particular location in the game. While he is doing this he sifts through the dirt or pine straw or sand that happens to be there. This week I'll be breaking the news to Samuel and his younger brother that starting next week we'll be taking a "break" from this game!
One night last week I had Samuel try something new for dinner, meatloaf. His brothers ate it without a problem. I had to provide soda as a reinforcer for trying it. He has not liked hamburgers lately so I figured he wouldn't be very willing to try meatloaf. As I asked him to eat it I made sure he knew a sip of soda would follow. He was not happy! He leaned over, SMELLED it and said "I don't want to eat STINKYBURGERS!" Now there's a new name for meatloaf!
I have noticed an increased sensitivity to smell with Samuel in the last few months. He smells his food, he smells other people's skin (usually their arms), and he smells his own skin and his armpits! While I was kind of sad he didn't like my cooking (though I didn't care for meatloaf as a child either!), it was enlightening to know WHY he didn't like it and I was glad that he was able to tell me this.
In the last week or so Samuel's interest in watching videos has returned. Watching videos has taken a back seat to playing on the computer for quite some time now. As his interest in videos increased his interest in playing on the computer has decreased. As always, he likes carrying around videos with him. He took quite a selection with him on our vacation. I limited it to what he could carry in a small canvas bag. He likes to carry them with him when we go out at home too. I make sure I specify to him that they STAY IN THE CAR.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Whatever it Takes!
I have been pleasantly surprised over the past few months with Samuel's responsiveness to incentives (ie.. "reinforcers"). This has been demonstrated to me for almost 2 years in how he follows the visual schedule when our in-home helpers are here, but it really wasn't until last fall that I made it my own tool to work with Samuel.
As Samuel started second grade and I saw how much his academic expectations were being raised, I realized that I was going to have to take action to get Samuel to do his homework. (This has been an ongoing process, see "The Evolution of Samuel's homework) I wanted Samuel to do the work ON HIS OWN, meaning that I would not sit there and verbalize over and over "time to do your work." The incentive: I used a token board with him and after he earned 4 tokens I gave him a small piece of candy. I also scheduled "Your Choice" after he finished his work, meaning that he could decide what he wanted to do (usually play on the computer, or Playstation).I had to spend a lot of time waiting him out. For weeks and weeks he dawdled at the start of each homework session, now he gets to work almost immediately. I'm also finding I don't have to reward tokens as frequently. In fact, tonight I didn't even take the token board or candy with me when we sat down to read a book together. He's getting more interested in finishing up the work and getting on to his fun activity!
Mealtimes are another opportunity to use incentives. In the last few months Samuel has become a very picky eater. His food repertoire has never been that great, but now he is starting to turn up his nose at some old standards like hot dogs and fish sticks. One night last week as Samuel came to the table he started "I'm not eating that." He was saying this about hot dogs, something we never used to have a problem with. I said "Samuel, if you eat your hot dogs I will let you have 3 videos." He ate the hot dogs. Tonight I served him "popcorn fish." He started complaining. I told him "Samuel, if you eat a piece of fish I will let you have a sip of soda." He tried eating one bite and demanded the soda. "No, you have eat the whole piece before you get the soda." He did so and got the soda. Then I had to ask for it back. He gave it back and I told him he could have more if he ate more fish. We went back and forth like this until his fish was gone!
Now I'll have to try this method to get him to sample new foods! I bought a can of spinach with a picture of Popeye on it not long ago, in the hopes that seeing the picture would inspire him to be like him (and eat the spinach!). It worked with my oldest son but not with Samuel!
This reminds me that Samuel is very capable in many things, my challenge in getting him to do things is a matter of making the performance of some activity worthwhile to him. He has an extreme version of the "What's in it for me?" line of thinking. It's something I face with each of my children (making them think something is worth doing), just to a greater degree with Samuel.
As Samuel started second grade and I saw how much his academic expectations were being raised, I realized that I was going to have to take action to get Samuel to do his homework. (This has been an ongoing process, see "The Evolution of Samuel's homework) I wanted Samuel to do the work ON HIS OWN, meaning that I would not sit there and verbalize over and over "time to do your work." The incentive: I used a token board with him and after he earned 4 tokens I gave him a small piece of candy. I also scheduled "Your Choice" after he finished his work, meaning that he could decide what he wanted to do (usually play on the computer, or Playstation).I had to spend a lot of time waiting him out. For weeks and weeks he dawdled at the start of each homework session, now he gets to work almost immediately. I'm also finding I don't have to reward tokens as frequently. In fact, tonight I didn't even take the token board or candy with me when we sat down to read a book together. He's getting more interested in finishing up the work and getting on to his fun activity!
Mealtimes are another opportunity to use incentives. In the last few months Samuel has become a very picky eater. His food repertoire has never been that great, but now he is starting to turn up his nose at some old standards like hot dogs and fish sticks. One night last week as Samuel came to the table he started "I'm not eating that." He was saying this about hot dogs, something we never used to have a problem with. I said "Samuel, if you eat your hot dogs I will let you have 3 videos." He ate the hot dogs. Tonight I served him "popcorn fish." He started complaining. I told him "Samuel, if you eat a piece of fish I will let you have a sip of soda." He tried eating one bite and demanded the soda. "No, you have eat the whole piece before you get the soda." He did so and got the soda. Then I had to ask for it back. He gave it back and I told him he could have more if he ate more fish. We went back and forth like this until his fish was gone!
Now I'll have to try this method to get him to sample new foods! I bought a can of spinach with a picture of Popeye on it not long ago, in the hopes that seeing the picture would inspire him to be like him (and eat the spinach!). It worked with my oldest son but not with Samuel!
This reminds me that Samuel is very capable in many things, my challenge in getting him to do things is a matter of making the performance of some activity worthwhile to him. He has an extreme version of the "What's in it for me?" line of thinking. It's something I face with each of my children (making them think something is worth doing), just to a greater degree with Samuel.
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