Feed Unto Others

We here at Sylvia and Company think pretty highly of our little mascot, Sylvia. She’s become a master sleeper, she’s rather chipper and interested in the world around her, and we consider her pretty cute. Lately we have noticed that along with those wonderful traits, she is also a good eater. Not just that she tends to eat a lot, but that she also eats well.

Last night she and I sat down to a meal of lentils, tomatoes, spinach, potatoes, and brown rice. After her third bowl, I realized that she had eaten more than me. I never thought I would be writing this next sentence. My one-year-old couldn’t get enough lentils and spinach. I brought out some pear sauce to mix thing up a bit. She ate that, but then began asking for more lentils and spinach.

Of course, she can be fickle. She could decide tonight that she will not be eating any more spinach for a while, but overall Sylvia tends to be open to all kinds of food – not just mac and cheese out of the box or ultra-sugary baby yogurt snacks. As I filled up her bowl once more, I threw a few more bites on my own plate, and I realized that maybe one way that we have encouraged good eating habits is by feeding Sylvia exactly (or almost exactly) what we eat.

This works well for many reasons. First, Sylvia is really a part of the dinner activity. She has her chair at the table and eats the same stuff as us. If she’s not into it at first, a bite or two from our plates with our spoons usually gets her interested in her own meal. Secondly, it encourages us to eat well, too. It’s pretty hard to eat a burger you ordered while trying to convince a one-year-old to swallow her stewed carrots. Lastly, it’s a lot cheaper. Making a large fresh meal costs so much less than individually tailored or restaurant-prepared meals.

Now we just have to work on the issue of wearing our food.