"Annie's Mailbox" follow-up? (On getting kids to eat)

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I always have trouble accessing any website with the "Annie's Mailbox"
column - they frequently conk out before I can get there.

Anyway, there was a letter from Jan. 22 (see here,
http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/entertainment/10708198.htm
) about making kids eat. I was appalled that the response was (pretty
much) along the lines of "don't make kids clean their plates, because
letting them act rude and ungrateful regularly is better than not
wasting food, even if you can't afford to waste."

For a fair, gentle and NON-WASTEFUL alternative to that, see here.

http://www.thetimesnews.com/2001/01-07/01-07-19/john_rosemond.html

Or check out "War and Peas," in Amy Dacyczyn's book "The Complete
Tightwad Gazette." (She's a mother of six.)

Anyway, has anyone seen a follow-up to that letter? If so, do you have
a link? Thanks.

Lenona.

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wrote:

>
> For a fair, gentle and NON-WASTEFUL alternative to that, see here.
>
> http://www.thetimesnews.com/2001/01-07/01-07-19/john_rosemond.html
>

Hey cool, that is pretty close to what we do. I try to balance various
values:

-- Don't waste food (done by not serving too much)
-- Each person knows their own hunger levels, and should not be forced
to consume more than they are comfortable with.
-- It is best to consume healthy foods before filling up on less
healthy foods

So, we don't have a "clean plate" rule, but we have rule that:

1. You must finish what you have before you can take more, or have
something different.
2. One bite of each dish is served at minimum. If the vegetable is
something that we *know* the kid doesn't like, we are reasonable on
this. The bite can be very teeny, and we encourage my daughter to bury
her bite of bean inside a bite of mashed potatoes. We are trying to
teach the idea that while it is not necessary to eat stuff you hate, it
is sometimes necessary to eat stuff that is not your absolute favorite.

I've done something similiar with our before-dinner snack problem. My
kids constantly pester me for snacks while I'm making dinner. Rule now
is that you can have a snack, but it must be a fruit or vegetable.
Because fruit isn't that filling, they are generally still hungry when
dinner is ready. And, if they fill up on fruit, I don't mind too much.

Jan