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Oct. 13, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Happiness Quotient

Jonathan Rosenblum: Ignore the Grandchildren

Oct. 10, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The limitations of scientific miracles

Caroline B. Glick: Lebanon on the brink --- and why it matters

Oct. 8, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: The day when the sane talk to themselves

Ana Veciana-Suarez: Many nonobservant Jews are finding religion

Oct. 7, 2008

Gary Rosenblatt: Of politics and prayer

Caroline B. Glick: The ironies of the West's collusion with the Arabs and Iran

Oct. 6, 2008

Rabbi Yitzchok R. Rubin: Mamma to the masses

Jonathan Tobin: Ahmadinejad Isn't Too Impressed

Oct. 3, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: The 'living dead' are all around us

Caroline B. Glick: Olmert's parting blows

Oct. 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: Often customers looking for our competitor accidentally enter our store. Can we just serve them without comment?

Jonathan Tobin: Jewish pundit quiz on next year's news

Sept. 29, 2008

Rabbi Eli Gewirtz: Lehman Brothers and the Day of Judgment

Rabbi Leiby Burnham: Apples, Honey and You

Sept. 26, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The shofar and the Echo of Sinai

Caroline B. Glick: A road paved on reality

Sept. 24, 2008

Greg Crosby: Home for the Holy Days

Ethel G. Hofman: Rosh Hashanah Favorites: Old-fashioned taste, reduced calories

Sept. 23, 2008

Caroline Glick: Liberalism or lives!?

Michael Ledeen: Dear President Ahmadinejad

Sept. 22, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: I gave a check to a local merchant, but it hasn't been cashed in months. Probably they lost it. Do I have to tell them?

Diana West: We are losing Europe to Islam

Sept. 19, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: On harvesting success

Caroline B. Glick: It is time to act

Sept. 18, 2008

Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Is camping the panacea to save Jewry from self-destruction?

Craig Gordon: Was SNL hilarity too much for Hillary?

Sept. 17, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: The Whole World Is Watching

The Kosher Gourmet By Linda Gassenheimer: East meets Southwest in this quick meal: MEXICAN-ASIAN TOSTADOS

Sept. 16, 2008

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. : Into the fire

Everything's Relative : Your Official Jewish Guide to the 2008 USA Presidential Election

Sept. 15, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Enabling risky behavior

Diana West: A day that will live in ... accommodating Islam

Sept. 11, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The skeleton in my closet

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein: Persecution and systematic destruction of Christians in the Middle East must be stopped

Sept. 10, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: There's Something About Sarah

The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: Who needs Chili's when you have these? Recipes for Mexican that taste great and are dietetic! Our commitment to freedom

Sept. 9, 2008

Daniel Pipes: Must counterinsurgency wars fail?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.:

Sept. 8, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: How far must one go to help somebody out of a contract?

Barry Rubin: Waiting For Something

Sept. 8, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : How far must one go to help somebody out of a contract?

Barry Rubin: Waiting For Something

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review June 13, 2007 / 27 Sivan, 5767

You gonna eat that?

By Malcolm Fleschner


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | "What can be done to convince young children to eat healthy foods?"


For centuries this question has stymied philosophers - the ones with children, anyway. Yet today we are no closer to a definitive answer, as the received wisdom of generations seems to boil down to, "Um, I don't know, maybe make choo-choo noises while you slip a forkful into their mouths?"


In my house we have three preschool-age children who exhibit varying levels of disdain for the food my wife and I put in front of them. These days my 3-year-old most consistently disapproves of anything new that appears on his plate. Not wanting to appear inflexible, however, he does generously suggest that we replace the offensive fare we've offered in favor of a stack of pancakes. He does this at every meal.


When this picky behavior first emerged, I had some success in persuading him to at least taste of new foods, typically by smiling and offering an enthusiastic, "Just try it - I promise you'll like it!" Sadly, I lost any food-related credibility I had established after the incident my children now refer to only as "Lima Bean-gate."


As a result, my son is now instantly suspicious of any unfamiliar food, even desserts. Narrowing his eyes, he shifts his gaze between his plate and me, like a character in a spy novel wondering what his food might be laced with. "Come on," I exclaim in frustration, "It's good. It's chocolate pudding, for crying out loud. I'm not trying to poison you!"


Despite these mealtime frustrations, my wife and I refuse to force our kids to eat anything. We both recall with horror countless childhood hours spent glumly staring at meals that we suspected came directly out of our parents' copies of "The Joy of Cooking (Meals Your Children Will Hate)." Having been instructed that I couldn't leave the table before my food was all gone, I always honored the letter - if not the spirit - of the law. Thousands of years from now, archaeologists sifting through the rubble of my mother's house will likely conclude that late 20th-century Americans shored up their homes by filling every baseboard crack with pieces of overcooked, rubberized meat.


When coercion didn't work, another popular tactic was applying guilt. "Eat your dinner - there are starving children in Africa," we were told. Of course my sister and I always responded enthusiastically, squealing, "Oh goody! Another mealtime lecture on the harmful effects of an unstable global economic system, unseasonably low levels of rainfall and other factors leading to the tragic malnutrition afflicting sub-Saharan Africa!" Concerned, thoughtful children that we were, we readily suggested boxing up our meals for immediate shipment to the hardest-hit areas.


Surprisingly, my mother never took us up on these acts of selflessness, which was just as well. "You're right, Mom," I would say, imagining a village of hungry African children clambering to open a shipment of food, expecting rice or grains, only to be confronted with a Corningware flower print dish filled with my mother's green bean casserole. "Those kids have suffered enough already."


Many parents today, weary of fighting these mealtime battles, just give in and just let kids choose their own menus. These parents serve an important societal function - namely, making the rest of us feel better about our own halfhearted parenting. Because while I might in rare instances allow a cereal into my home that lists "sugar," "high fructose corn syrup" and "more sugar" as the three primary ingredients, I can still take pride in knowing that I draw the line at feeding my children a breakfast consisting of, say, a bowl of Doritos swimming in Yoo Hoo.


Advertisers are, naturally, all too eager to help parents rationalize making these nutritional concessions. That's why you might see an ad referring to a cereal consisting of miniature marshmallows with cookie dough centers as "part of this complete breakfast." Look at the ad a little more closely, however, and you'll notice that the cereal bowl is surrounded by a large glass of orange juice, a plate of fresh fruit, a dozen multivitamins and a bushel of Brussels sprouts (not pictured) while the breakfasting child appears to be running on a treadmill. By this standard, what wouldn't qualify as part of a "complete breakfast?" A Twinkie? Cheetos? A pack of Marlboros?


Now, as a result of my children's adamant refusal to try new foods, I have fallen back on that most shopworn of parental strategies, reverse psychology. "If you don't want it, that just means more for me," I'll say, popping the spurned carrots, asparagus, peas or broccoli into my mouth, hoping they'll stop me, which they never do.


Ah well, at least someone in our household is eating healthy.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Malcolm Fleschner is a humor columnist for The DC Examiner. Let him know what you think by clicking here.


Previously:

05/08/07:That's disinter-tainment
05/02/07:You Are (not) Getting Sleepy...
04/18/07: No time like Father Time
03/15/07: Deface the Nation
03/08/07: More gifts? You shouldn't have
02/22/07: Relationships can be such a chore
12/05/06: Who's calling the shots?
11/09/06: I'm taking selling to a whole new level
10/27/06: Some skills are beyond repair
10/18/06: You can't tech it with you
10/04/06: Award to the wise
08/24/06: Phrased and Confused
08/09/06: We're Gonna Party Like it's $19.99
07/19/06: Just Singing in the Brain
05/24/06: Who says you can't go home again?
05/11/06: When nightly news stories go off script
04/26/06: Cents and sensibility: A thought for your pennies
03/16/06: The day the Muzak died
02/23/06: Checkbook diplomacy begins at home
02/15/06: Today's toys: Where learning means earning



© 2006, Malcolm Fleschner

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