Dinner Wars

I'm having a dinner time dilemma. Normally, Maeve is maybe what you'd call a little touchy around dinner time. We avoid having confrontations around dinner time because it is not her best time of day, and as a result, it isn't mine, either. We have just about had it with each other around dinner time.

But this week? This week has been full out warfare at dinner time. I have made plenty of dinners that she likes just fine, but the last two nights have been a series of screaming, crying, time outs, potty accidents, and general misery. What I can't figure out is why.

She refuses to eat more than a few minuscule bites of anything. She claims she likes the food, she just wants to eat teeny bites of it, "the size of an ant". But then almost nothing gets eaten.

What I don't know is what I can change about our dinner routine or our expectations. I can try having a zero tolerance policy for attitude at the dinner table, but I fear then nothing will get eaten at all, and I am not a mom who can send her kid to bed hungry just to teach them a lesson.

I am also disinclined to just let her eat dinner in front of the TV. It's been done by many parents to keep the peace, but eating dinner around the table with the family is a priority to me. Even if it causes the child to lose her tiny mind.

I will gladly accept any advice! I'm hoping this is yet another phase which she grows out of, but I miss our happy family dinners.

Before the Dinner Wars began.