Another week, another Mama Guilt Monday, courtesy of Cop Mama. See the MckLinky at the bottom of this post to link up.

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Here’s today’s optional prompt:

Picky Eaters: What Do YOU Do?

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Here’s mine:

Ooooooooh!!  This is a good one!  I feel a whole lotta mama guilt concerning the eating habits of my girls. 

My girls were good little eaters when they were weaning.  They would eat a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and meat in puree form, as well as lots of finger foods, such as toast, bananas, rice cakes, cheese, cucumber.

However, as the months and years have progressed, the girls have become increasingly fussier.  They now eat only a small selection of foods, many of them not the healthiest options.  Their favourite meal is fish and chips with baked beans, and when we are eating out they ALWAYS choose this dish!

They now point blank refuse to eat any vegetables apart from potatoes, baked beans and very occasionally carrots or peas.  The only meat they eat is battered or breadcrumbed fish, chicken and turkey. Rachel will eat minced beef in a bolognaise sauce, but Sophie  won’t.  Sophie will eat sausages, but Rachel won’t. 

The only way I can salvage their diet is by making sure they eat plenty of fruit.  They eat apples, tangerines, grapes, strawberries, bananas and raisins.  They have a piece of fruit at playtime at school, and two or three pieces of fruit with their lunch.

However, I was dismayed that, after a dental hygiene talk at their after school club, they now believe that eating too much fruit will cause cavities!  I know this is technically true, but you’d have to eat a lot more acidic fruit than they currently do, and not brush their teeth.  I have tried to emphasise that eating fruit is better for their teeth than sweets, cakes and sugary drinks.

I do feel a lot of mama guilt regarding the girls’ diet.  I feel that me being a working mum contributes to their poor eating habits.  Had I been responsible for all their meals and snacks over the years, I might have been able to be stricter with their diet.  However, time spent with family members, who have perhaps relented to my daughters’ whims, has meant that the girls have developed poorer eating habits than I would have liked.

I must stress though, that I am not, in any way, trying to blame my inlaws for my daughters’ poor eating habits.   Instead, I am blaming myself for not being a fulltime mum, who has plenty of time and energy to devote to the task of ensuring the girls eat a full and varied diet.

Nevertheless, I’m hoping that they will learn to try more new things, as they grow older.

Do YOU have any Mama Guilt on your mind today? Here’s what you do:

1. Blog about YOUR Mama Guilt, funny or serious. Using the prompt is optional.

2. Mention “Mama Guilt Mondays” in your post by putting a link back here or copy/paste the button into the HTML.

3. If you want, you can grab the MckLinky BlogHop code and paste it into your blog HTML, so others can join.

4. Enter the link for your post into the MckLinky.

Or share YOUR Mama Guilt in the comments below!

*Dads are welcome here too!

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