Y’all know where I am going with this, don’t you?
My kid doesn’t eat. {How many of you just nodded your head, or said “Amen!”?!}
He is the PICKIEST of the picky and it’s almost painful to eat a meal with him.
Okay, that might be slightly dramatic, but seriously … he won’t eat.
Our pediatrician says he won’t starve … and we know that he’ll eat when he’s really hungry. But it can be painful.
He loves Nutella.
Who doesn’t?
I mean, I could eat Nutella ALL day, EVERY day! You feel the same way, I know you do.
We went to NYC for Christmas and Eataly {one of our favorite places!} has an entire section of their store dedicated to Nutella.
They know how good this stuff is and how much we love it!! I honestly don’t know what I did before I discovered Nutella. My life must have been so empty…
Kidding.
So here we are at night, bribing the poor kid to eat five more green beans, or “this much” chicken, promising Nutella at the end.
You know what? It works.
He may shrug his shoulders or throw his head back as if he has no inclination what-so-ever to do what we’ve requested. But then, he must remember the goodness. The not-too-sweet flavor of cocoa and hazelnuts, and he quickly comes around. Sometimes he shovels the food in his mouth so fast, we look at him like he’s a mad-man. Other nights he takes his sweet Sunday afternoon time. But as soon as that last bite is in his mouth, he announces proudly. “I ate my food!!! NUTELLA Please!!”
I will say that we stick to our guns, and y’all know that’s the hardest part, when he doesn’t finish his plate or eat what we ask him to. Oh, you know he still asks for it. But he doesn’t get it. And sometimes there’s little tantrum, but he knows … he knows that if he doesn’t clean his plate, or eat what we request of him, there’s no Nutella.
And trust me, those nights are sad.
Last Friday was “World Nutella Day“… did you celebrate? We did. We made up a song that night after supper, after he cleaned his plate and was ready for his Nutella… We danced and sang to our new song, it goes like this:
WORLD
Nutella Day!
WORLD
Nutella Day!
We are musical geniuses. I think we’ll probably sing it every night he gets Nutella, at least until he’s old enough to think I’m silly about it.
So yes, we bribe. And we bribe with Nutella. Some nights we all win … and some nights we all lose. The nights we all win are certainly the most fun.