Food, glorious food

IN the two and a half years since Harry arrived on the scene, without doubt the most consistently stressful aspect of life has been mealtimes.

There is pressure – from the minute babies are born – to make sure they are feeding properly. There’s the whole breast milk versus bottle milk debate and, as soon as that one is dealt with, you have the challenge of weaning.

It has to be said that we were pretty fortunate with Harry. He had a big appetite from the moment he arrived and that took away a fair amount of stress. The switch to solids was also relatively straightforward – you could puree up just about anything and Harry would devour it without complaint.

Since he turned two, however, things have changed. Don’t get me wrong, he still loves food and his big appetite remains but there are now some things that he refuses to put anywhere near his mouth.

Trying to be a responsible parent in these circumstances is challenging. Of course you want your child to grow up eating fruit and vegetables and nothing processed. The reality – at least in our case – is that that you have to compromise.

Harry loves certain fruits – particularly bananas, grapes, pears and apples. Try getting him to eat tomato or melon, however, and you’re likely to end up wearing it. On the vegetable front, he’s pretty good and will eat just about anything if he’s in a good mood, although his favourites are potato, sweetcorn, peas and, somewhat surprisingly, courgettes.

Typically, Harry also loves plenty of things he shouldn’t: crisps, biscuits and, just like his mum, chocolate and lots of it. He eats cheese at every opportunity and would probably have baked beans for every meal given half a chance.

Harry’s favourite meal, though, would probably be a roast with all the trimmings. In that sense at least, he takes after me.