UGH..I have never, and will never, understand the power struggle over food.

SS6 is like this. He will say, I don't like that if he hasn't seen it. I just started saying, funny, you did last time, guess you are going to be hungry. I sit down and don't serve him and start to eat. I pass things to the other kids and\or serve them ignoring him.

He will look at it again all puzzled, then say, oh yeah.. i remember, I do like that I think. I still do nothing, then he will ask for some and then, only then will I give him some.

SS6 is soooo stubborn that if you told him the sky was blue he would argue. So, i found if I can force him to make the decision himself he is more likely to follow through. I don't cater or engage in his arguments, I refuse to argue with a child.

Worse case, he sits with an empty plate while the rest of us start eating. If DH says, why didn't you serve SS6? i will say, he said he didn't like it so I didn't bother. Then DH can fight with him.

for me, win win

Honestly, food power struggles are a waste, IMO. As long as the kid gets the nutrition she needs, leave it alone.
I've known too many people who had these "food fights" as children with their parents, and they have eating issues in adulthood.

And, really?? A SP forcing it?? SMH

My husband and I always make SD eat all of her vegetables and all the food on her plate. If she can't finish it because she is really full (I usually know when I've given her a bit too much), she takes it for lunch the next day. The only exception to that IS the vegetables. Vegetables have to be finished at dinner, because how do I know she won't just throw them away at lunch? We make a game out of it on the nights we make peas, which are her least favorite. We all race to see who can finish them fastest and THEN eat the good stuff on our plate.

Good for you for making her eat them. I know too many adults who still won't eat vegetables. You've got to teach them healthy habits!!

I was very picky as a child so I've never forced the kids or skid to eat anything. I emphathize. I wasnt trying ot be difficult, I didnt like just junk food (I hated and to this day hate McD's)I just did not like any vegetables, except corn and potatoes! As an adult, I learned to broaden my tastes somewhat although there are still lots of veggies I dont eat. However, I eat tons of fruit and like salads.

I tend to have an opposite problem. I dont buy a lot of junk, but buy some as I think it's nice to treat yourself once in awhile. Over the weekend I went to Sam's and bought lots of healthy stuff and the treats were a container of 12 pkgs of donuts and 12 honeybuns. Bought these home on Sunday evening-by Tuesday afternoon all 24 packages were gone. I ate 2 packages of the donuts and dh ate 2 honeybuns. So between 4 kids they each ate approximately 5 of these snacks in less than 48 hours. However, the accurate ratio is probably that my ss14 ate 12 of these snacks, my dd10 maybe 2, dd14 maybe 1, ds maybe 5. I bought reduced fat cheese sticks. SS grabbed a handful of 5 of them yesterday morning and shoved them in his backpack to take to school. Any type of snack items I buy he will gorge himself on. He ate an entire jar of nutella on 5 pieces of raisin bread in one sitting as a "snack". This would have been my breakfast for a week (and I'd still have half a jar of nutella at least left over). It's a minor thing but extremely frustrating as the food I buy is gone in 2 days. I cannot afford to feed ss. When we have meals-he will eat a normal portion. Does not ask for seconds and sometimes does not even eat a whole portion. But an hour later will be gorging himself. There are multiple items I have stopped purchasing. I have food hidden in my room. I will not be going ot the store again this week and he will have to make do with whatever he can find in the house. I cannot watch him 24/7 to make sure he doesnt snack like this. When we try to keep an eye on him, I find that he gets up at 5am and gorges himself before anyone gets up. I think he has days in which he takes in around 5000 calories. You'd think he'd be oveweight, right? Uh, no. He is 14 and weighs 85 pounds and is not even 5 feet tall. He looks more like a 9 or 10 year old and no matter how much he eats he never gains weight. I find it hard to believe he even weighs 85-his waist is smaller than my 10 year old dd's who is by no means large, but actually somewhat petite for her age. They wear the same size clothes. He can actually wear smaller things than her.

This is an issue that drives me nuts. My dh doesnt quite get why it bothers me so much.

I don't think "eat what they want."
I think you put healthy food on the plate. The kid eats what they want to eat.
No forcing.
No snacks until the next healthy meal.
If only healthy options are available, there's nothing to worry about.

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Exactly!