My Picky Eater

I had to make this post super quick about Kaylee who will not eat anything. She doesn't like anything to eat unless it is candy, ice cream, cake, donuts, fruit or a peanut butter sandwich. I'm not kidding when I say that is ALL she will eat. Everything else is a fight. A constant fight. I understand that kids don't like grownup food all the time but she won't even eat the crappy kid food that is usually loved by all kids. No corn dogs, no chicken nuggets, no lunchables, no macaroni & cheese, no french fries, no cheese, no milk, no yogurt, nothing. And she will only eat a peanut butter sandwich if it is JUST peanut butter and it HAS to be on white bread. I've tried everything to get her to eat. She just won't do it. The only gain I've made in this battle is that she will eat a Gogurt (which I've never bought before until just last week) but she only eats the Gogurt because I freeze them and she thinks it's ice cream-not really a gain but at least she is getting some dairy now.

Now I'm all for being a mean mom and making my kids do things for their own good. So finally one day I decided that was it! She was going to eat her dinner no matter what the cost! Well she didn't eat it that night so I told her she would have to eat it for breakfast. The next morning when she asked for something to eat I heated up her rice from the night before and told her she was going to sit there-at the table-until she ate her food. That was at 9:00 AM. She refused and sat at the table, not moving, all day long!

The first picture was when she fell asleep around noon and slept for two hours. The second picture is when she fell asleep around 6:30PM. Can you believe that?? She was going on 9 1/2 hours of sitting in that chair not moving. Nothing to drink, no TV, no toys, no bathroom breaks (she hadn't even asked). Just her and her plate of rice. The only move she had made all day was at dinner time when she just turned to the garbage behind her and threw her food in the garbage. Luckily I more leftovers and refilled her plate. When Ben got home I left to run an errand completely prepared to have her spend the night sleeping at the table if need be. I was NOT going to lose this battle of wills! However Ben convinced her to eat the food only if he spoon fed it to her. That was all last week.

This week I've just sort of given up for a bit and let her eat bread with peanut butter for every meal because I just didn't want to fight it with Than in town or with the babysitter. But tonight when I made a quick dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches and canned fruit we were at it again. She ate the fruit but didn't want the sandwich. Another trick she does is to rip the food up so it looks like a bunch of pieces instead of a while sandwich. Ben said she had to eat so the fight began. However we took a new tactic. We set the timer and said she had to eat it before it went off or she would get a spanking (which we never do but we thought pain might motivate her) and sent to bed without special time. She was still stubborn-glaring at us, whining, crying-but she ate the food. I was thinking we had hit the jackpot! Finally something that worked! Finally we had beat Kaylee at her own game! Finally we came out on top of this never-ending battle!

I should have known that I would never really win over Kaylee. She always has something up her sleeve. She and I will probably always battle this out and I will probably always lose. I went to bed early and was awakened at 11:08 because she THREW UP!!! She threw up! Of course she threw up! She beat me again! Instead of throwing a fit at the table she just waited. Instead of me throwing the leftover sandwich in the garbage and just letting it all go I'm up at midnight stripping the bed down, cleaning the mattress, giving her a bath, and WASHING THE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH DOWN THE TOILET!! I just don't know what to do. I don't know the answer. I thought maybe the timer was the answer but not anymore. She is just something else. She was my first child to say that she hated me (on Mother's Day no less). She always seems depressed with her life. I can't get her to eat. She has no friends. And nothing I do is right with her. I always do the wrong thing. That kid...