Every once in a while, parents have an aha moment where all their efforts seem to be paying off. It doesn’t happen all the time, and you never really know with these kids what’s sinking in and what’s not…so if you have this moment, relish it! I had such a moment today when I picked up my kids from school. As I walked down the hall with a boy on each hand, the principle called out to me from her office and told me she wanted to speak to me about my son Orly. There was a group of teachers in the room and by the way the principle looked at me, I got the sense she was going to tell me Orly had misbehaved in some way, but luckily that was not the case!  She started telling us all the story of how she went into Orly’s class today for observations and they were serving Thanksgiving Lunch. On the plate, they served Turkey, Broccoli florets, Corn on the cob, and applesauce. She said that most of the kids stared at the food and refused to eat it. But she couldn’t believe it when she saw Orly say to his friends…Oh, I LOVE Broccoli! She said he ate his floret and another child gave him her piece of broccoli. She said he then took that floret and dipped it in his applesauce and proudly took a big bite.

So she felt compelled to call me into her office and let me know how impressed she was that my son ate so well. She said most of the kids would not even try the corn, much less the broccoli. And she couldn’t believe how open he was about how much he liked broccoli and corn and how he dipped the broccoli in the apple sauce. I felt so proud that he ate his food but most of all I felt proud that he admitted he liked the broccoli even when his friends didn’t. I have always wondered how my children will react when they start getting older and their friends don’t eat the same way they do. I am fully aware that the next time this happens Orly may succumb to the peer pressure or maybe at some point he will reject certain foods because his friends do also. But TODAY I am thankful that he didn’t.  I am thankful that I have the opportunity to teach him things that about food and nutrition that I didn’t grow up knowing about. I am thankful that I have my husband’s full support and that we’ve made eating healthy a family journey.

As the principle shared this story with me, Orly and Justin both had lolipops in their mouths that they got after the Thanksgiving lunch; at that very moment I felt a sense of balance in our lives. Sure they love their lolipops and sweets…but they love their broccoli too…and I pray that positive balance carries with them into their adult lives and spreads into all areas of their beings. What a blessing that would be.