In my experience, feeding my daughter has been the one of the most frustrating experiences as a parent. (Although, I am extremely thankful that the whole diapering stage is over!) There are just so many things that she won't eat, and, for the most part, is because of the idea of it.

I blame my current problems on commercials and other kids at her school. She doesn't get much of a chance to watch television, but when she does, she is glued to the screen. Commercials seem to hold a lot of her attention. She always wants me to buy what she has just seen on TV and I tend to refuse because the prepackaged stuff is so expensive. Take for instance, those Lunchables.

Lunchables are just a couple of pieces of cheese, crackers, processed meat slices, and a miniature chocolate bar with possibly a miniscule container of some koolaid type beverage, all in their own neat little compartment. And it sells for about 5 bucks a pop. Arggh! It's been the bane of my existence ever since she started going to kindergarden. My first question was, who really buys this crap for their kids and think that its nutritious enough, cheap enough, and just plain enough? Unfortunately, the answer is: a lot of people. I hate them all.

There's a million brands out there, and it's a struggle not to give in. I'll admit to begging my parents to let me have some of that stuff too, so once in a while I give in. (I loved those little minature boxes of Kellog's cereal that you could get. 8 single sized servings in tiny boxes that you could cut with a knife or scissors into your own bowl. Close to 5 bucks, though. I was allowed it perhaps once a year.[ I bought 2 packages of these last year for Hallowe'en. Stuck tiny plastic knives (painted silver) through the boxes, added fake blood and hot-glued it to a shirt and spattered the same fake blood all over me. I was a cereal killer!])

So, my answer has been to be as innovative as possible. Simple, regular dishes are renamed and thus, now well-liked. Stir-fry is Hot Bites, Eggs over easy are Dippy Eggs (served with toast sliced 4 ways across as dipsticks), Hamburgers are Crabby-Pabbies (which I think, comes from Spongebob Squarepants. What the hell, it works.) And in defense to Lunchables, I've simply used a container with divided sections and put in my own variety of food from the cupboard and fridge. And this all works.

For me (and her), alll it takes is a little imagination.