There were several people who were upset that Ryan would make Emma eat her food. Every morning, he prepares her breakfast and she eats it. One particular morning, she decided she didn't want it. Ryan told her she had to eat it. In between her crying, he would give her a small spoonful of mashed up food and she would eat it. He made her eat about 20 bitefuls.
Some couldn't believe making a child eat something they didn't want to eat is okay. I was telling Ken this and he simply said, "Disobediences takes many different forms." Not allowing your child to be a picky eater and dictate to you what they are going to eat seems to be good parenting to me.
Today, I was reading the Pearls' NGJ magazine. Their son wrote an article and he wrote, "I make my son eat green beans. Even if he says he doesn't like them, even if it makes him cry, I compel him to eat them because I know he will be healthier and learn self-discipline if he has a history of eating green beans...He is learning to say yes to good things even when it does not please his flesh."
I believe it is called teaching your child self-discipline and that they won't always get what they want. Many times in life they must learn to choose to do what is good for them instead of what they want to do. In the long run, this will be much better for them.
Emma is only seventeen months old. Today I was eating a salad with dandelion greens, brocolli, etc, and Emma loved eating it with me. Her parents have taught her to like good food. She doesn't get sugar and processed junk food.
She is a smart girl. She knows what she wants but Ryan and Erin are determined to teach her to choose good ways, including eating healthy. Some of you may think that force feeding is just terrible. I disagree. You can train your taste buds to like anything. They choose to train her to like healthy food. They only want her to grow up to be a self-controlled, disciplined adult and to get there isn't always easy but it is always good.
Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
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