Picky-Eater Tricks...

The job of a parent is a complex one. I always assumed that as long as I didn't offer junk food and then exposed my kids to a variety of healthy foods that they would eat 'almost' anything I put in front of them.

That was before my first child started eating solids...

Although far more difficult than I ever imagined, I'm stubborn and continue to work at this.

Here are a few tricks that have worked for me lately:

Giving an ordinary meal, a cool name.

• We call quesadilla's "cheesy triangles". Xander was obsessed with shapes at the time.

• Snowball soup. We made a delicious ham and navy bean soup this winter. Xander has never been a bean eater and Keegan is iffy. But the idea of eating "snowballs" completely won them over and they devoured my experimental soup!

When we are out and about, I've had great success with getting my kids to eat their veggies. When we are at the zoo or botanical gardens the first thing I pull out for them to snack on is red pepper strips, carrot sticks or peas. Even if they are not currently into those veggies at home, I've found that if that disappear quickly when that is the only option on the road.

Of course, creative planning can backfire. My grandpa told my dad and uncle that lima beans would make them fly. A broken collar bone after a flying attempt from their roof was the proof that this was not true...

Any tips out there. I'd love to hear what has worked for you or on you. I know my mom pulled all kinds of tricks on us. But it's late and I can't remember any of them right now...