My eldest two daughters, now 15 and 11, always ate vegetables, unless my memory is worse than I think and/or I'm kidding myself.  They certainly enjoy their vegetables very much now.  "Let's just order a pizza or get some fish and chips" I say, exhausted and not in the mood for mess, and they plead for me to cook them vegetables.  I'm not joking, it's really true.  The only issue I have is that one doesn't like zucchini, which is one of my favourites.

But my little ones, 2 and 3 years old, are not great veggie eaters.  What did I do differently?  Where did I go wrong?

They do, however, like to touch, hold, discuss and identify the vegetables.  But my son will not even allow them to touch his plate.  Not even the ever-favourite pumpkin.  He won't even taste it.

As little babies they ate veggies, and lots of them.  Their father would make great batches of home made baby food which we would freeze in little servings.  It would have pumpkin, potato, broccoli, carrots, and all sorts of lovely things good for little babies.  We incorporated beef mince into it too.

But when they get to the age where they want to hold the spoon themselves, and no longer need everything mashed up, it gets tricky.

Read more: Getting Kids to Eat Vegetables

I'm going to start this category off with a great video from You Tube which is hysterically funny and made me feel great. I watched it with one of my kids and we nearly wet ourselves!

It sums up one of the most important things about parenting that comes to mind for me, which is that we are here to provide leadership for our kids and be rock solid for them, setting an example and showing that we care enough to enforce what we know is best for them.

Be strong, mums and dads, believe in yourselves, and watch this cool video clip by Anita Renfroe.


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It’s school holidays at the moment here for my older kids.  The challenge for me is to not end up feeling guilty. 

How on earth though, do we manage to not feel guilty when it’s guaranteed that at some stage during the holidays the kids will complain that they’re bored and have nothing to do. 

It’s no good telling them that when we were their age we had to make our own fun, and we certainly didn’t get driven to the pool or the roller skating rink or the zoo every day.  And it’s no good complaining to them that we have limited funds to spend on entertaining them.  They just don't get it. 

So what I do is tell them at the outset, that there will be a set amount of outings, whether it’s one or two a week, and they can each choose some.  That way my schedule and my budget are prepared, the kids know what to expect, and there’s no arguing. 

The other days they are welcome to get together with friends or do things that don’t cost money, and if there’s driving involved for me, there’s a limit, and I don’t guarantee being able to if given no notice. 

We have some visits lined up with family and friends as well, and hey, we parents are allowed to have some time to ourselves too.