Day 7: A broken blender and four-year-old boy strikes again...

Well I did better than just a blender, I also purchases a hand-held blender along with four melamine plates although kiddie cutlery was not to be found in Carrefour (other than the baby fork and spoon variety).  Unfortunately the big blender didn't work when I got it home.  Oh joy, trying to explain to them in Carrefour tomorrow that I want another one -- and not the same one I bought today since it is clearly inferior--is going to be an exercise in resigned futility.   I find myself going into customer service situations in the UAE with a heavy heart and a defensive attitude as I just know it won't be straightforward and in all probability they will require my birth certificate and a urine sample before allowing me to make the exchange.

Anyway, when the children got in from school I had a big pot of vegetable soup waiting for them, thrown together from last nights uneaten vegetables (of which there were many).  Added in was some garlic, parsley and scallions and served with thick slices of wholemeal bread and butter, they all tucked in hungrily-- even four year old boy, who ladled two spoons into his mouth before announcing: 'it's delicious mama' and then got down from the table and toddled off to play the wii.  'Come back here and finish your soup' I demanded.  'No thanks, I'm not hungry any more' he replied, over his shoulder. I suppose I should be grateful he even tried it... 

Later on I did a simple stir-fry of chicken, red peppers and mushrooms.  They all made a good attempt at eating it with the exception of (sigh) four-year-old boy who ate a chunk of chicken then once again, got up and left the table.

I'm sure stronger parents than I would say 'well, I'd make him come back and finish it' but he's very strong willed and quite simply would be immune to my attempts at persuasion.

They had a treat of ice-cream with a tin of tropical fruit for dessert...I know tinned fruit has syrup in it, but just getting them to eat the fruit at all would be a challenge.  The two older boys made a good effort, nine-year-old girl whipped the bowl of ice cream out from under me as I was ladling  the fruit into the bowls, and sprinted out of the kitchen, making me very cross indeed, and four-year-old boy ate one spoon of ice cream before once more leaving the table.  I think I need to strap him into a giant highchair although as they say: 'you can bring a horse to water.....'

Tomorrow I shall return the blender and, if I make it out of there with a replacement, will begin my covert attack on four-year-old boy with my sneaky chef recipes and a new set of bribes since the cash prize holds little attraction to him.

Day 7: Dealing with a fussy four-year-old

So, as I said yesterday, four-year-old boy is becoming a problem.  Initially stirred by the new experiment, he happily joined in eating his broccoli and chicken. However, now he's realised this new regime is here to stay, he's rebelling.

Yesterday he ate nothing at all but just drank milk.  He should be as skinny as a rake but he's not, he's a very chubby little guy.  The problem starts from breakfast since he refuses to eat cereal at all and will only occasionally nibble at a slice of toast.  As I type he's drinking a Danao (it's got fruit and milk in it) and ignoring some bread and honey which I placed in front of him while he watches 'Cat in a hat'. Again..

A friend recommended a website and book range called 'The sneaky chef' which is based around the idea of pureeing vegetables and fruits and sneaking them into food that way.  And while the whole point of this experiment was to get the children to want to eat veggies and to make healthy choices, I can see that with four-year-old boy, I'm going to have to do some outmaneuvering with him.

And so today will see me doing a little shopping for the project: I do like buying things for new projects although more often than not those items will sit in the cupboard, untouched, for ever more.  I once decided grandly that I would take up running.  I've never run in my life, but I liked the idea of going for long solitary runs at dawn. However, before I ran a step, I decided I would need some professional trainers, some fetching running pants and one of those little tops with a bra inside of it. Once all these things had been gathered, I prepared for my run.  After a bit of a warm-up, I headed out.  Five minutes later I returned looking like I was having an asthma attack, thus ending my running career before it had even began.  I still have those trainers somewhere....

However, the shopping list today is quite necessary.  A food-blender is the first item.  Also three-quarter sized plates (they either use their plastic bowls or massive dinner plates, neither of which are appropriate) as well as cutlery for little hands ( knife and fork, as opposed to just a small fork).

Also, I need some inspiration as to what to feed four-year-old boy for breakfast. Any tips or advice, please post below!

Does this child look malnourished to you?