A Girl's Gotta Eat!

This picture was taken on a GOOD FOOD DAY! With the enthusiasm that she is showing for eating this apple, you would think that we never have a problem with food. Some days, it takes all I've got to get Reagan to eat something. The child loves milk, and she would drink a liter of it a day if I let her... and some days, I do. I mean, the child has to get nourishment from somewhere, and at least it is milk and not Pepsi! Usually one day a week her diet consists of nothing but milk and a Flintstone vitamin. There is also usually one day a week that she will eat everything in sight, with no encouragement or prompting needed. The other days, I struggle to come up with creative ideas to get her to eat. I'm happy to say that I do have one trick up my sleeve that seems to ALMOST always work, however odd it may be. This is how it goes... we pretend Reagan is a dog. I whistle for whatever dog she chooses to be (Dixie, Buster, Bingo, Sadie, Pluto... you get the picture) and then I reward her with a "doggie treat" when she comes. The treat it usually whatever we are eating for dinner that night! But I have to tell her that it is dog food in order for her to eat it. It can be pizza, steak, pasta, whatever... all I have to do is say, "Come here Bingo! Come on girl! Come eat your dog food!" and she will eat it. Hey whatever works! I do worry that I am creating a monster, and that she will be in preschool next year and the teachers will have to resort to calling her doggie names to get her to participate in snack time. Hopefully by then we will no longer need a gimmick! And hey, at least she hasn't requested to be served her meals out of a dog bowl... that is where I will have to draw the line!

Any ideas or helpful hints would be much appreciated if you have been through this stage with your kids.