Preconceived Notions

I made my three-year-old daughter a little lunch recently: apple slices with some almond butter, baby carrots, a bit of cheese, some macadamia nuts.

Then I set about my lunch: a "big-ass" salad of leftover roasted chicken and fresh veggies. Grokette watched as I stacked my bowl high. Baby spinach, a vinaigrette, macadamia nuts, diced sugar snap peas, cut steamed asparagus, avocado, and the chicken pieces.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Can I have a salad?"

Lesson learned: I shouldn't have preconceived notions about what my daughter will or will not eat. Dumb as it is, I think on some subconscious level I was operating on a pretense that she wouldn't eat a salad in favor of what I had prepared.

But - I do think that it helps for her to believe that I'm getting something different, ergo better (the grass is greener theory). So from now on, I'll try to make her a minimeal to munch on while she watches my lunch come together, and share with her at her request.