# How I get my daughter to eat vegetables **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2004, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641 "2004-01-04T14:48:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/21 "2004-01-05T04:15:27Z")
:: blush :: Ah, I was afraid of that, when I hit the wrong key during the throes of composition. \ Anyway, **Scylla** , perhaps one of those ditties, sung to a tune of your choice, will do the trick? ---
**Author:** ![Sethra-chan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Sethra-chan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sethra-chan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/22 "2004-01-05T06:00:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\* > There was a funny poem I read years ago: > > I eat my peas with honey > I’ve done it all my life > It makes the peas taste funny > But it keeps them on my knife > > (Of course, peas should be eaten with a spoon. I love peas). > \*\* A variation on this poem I heard whilst forced to watch a video geared for the under-6 crowd, during a babysitting job for a cousin: I eat my peas with honey Morning, night, and noon It makes them tasty quite funny But, it keeps them on the spoon 😃 ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/23 "2004-01-05T08:01:50Z")
My mom got me to eat Brussels sprouts as a kid by calling them “monster heads.” I’d _beg_ for monster heads at dinner. Those and “brocco-trees.” I’ve lost my taste for Brussels sprouts, but the brocco-trees are still good. I was a big hit at last year’s family Christmas party among my middle-school-aged cousins by “smoking” a good portion of the vegetable tray, including the broccoli. 8th-graders get a big laugh out of the idea of doing a hit on a carrot. I’m a horrible influence… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/24 "2004-01-05T17:10:22Z")
Tell her that Space Aliens sent them as part of their Invasion Plans (no doubt you can get **lekatt** to back you up on that), and if _she_ doesn’t eat _them_, then _they_ are gonna eat _her_! A simple little lie, it will work fine, & the therapy bills later in life will seem reasonable… ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/25 "2004-01-05T17:44:52Z")
My dad would slam his fist on the table and scream “ **EAT!!!** ” We learned quickly enough it was easier and faster to eat our vegetables when we weren’t sobbing. I don’t have any issues about this, I like vegetables fine. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/26 "2004-01-05T18:06:00Z")
The Moto twins are fourteen months old, and I don’t think there’s a vegetable they don’t like. And I’ve tried. Sara and Francis ate the steamed okra, buttered squash, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, lima beans, sweet potatoes, and zucchini, among others. They loved them all, and demanded seconds. Our problem isn’t getting them to eat their veggies, it’s the fact that we’ll go broke if they keep doing it. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/27 "2004-01-05T19:13:16Z")
“If you don’t eat your brocolli, Mommy will probably die.” ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/28 "2004-01-06T01:50:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eva Luna \* > **If they don’t work cooked, try them raw.** And if they don’t work raw, try them frozen. My terror-toddler will reject cooked and raw veges, but give him a cup full of frozen mixed veg and he’s happy as a clam. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/29 "2004-01-06T02:13:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lieu \* > \*\*“If you don’t eat your brocolli, Mommy will probably die.” \*\* ROTFLOL!!! That’s right up there with “Daddy drinks because you cry!” ---
**Author:** ![Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Live_Better_Electrically)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/30 "2004-01-06T03:43:33Z")
> [@](#): > > There was a funny poem I read years ago: I’ve seen this attributed to Shel Silverstein but it’s a nursery rhyme written by the great poet Anonymous. ---
**Author:** ![Catsmeow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Catsmeow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsmeow)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/31 "2004-01-06T06:57:10Z")
> [@](#): > > _Apollyon_ > originally posted byAnd if they don’t work raw, try them frozen. My terror-toddler will reject cooked and raw veges, but give him a cup full of frozen mixed veg and he’s happy as a clam. I was going to suggest this too. I _still_ eat frozen corn and frozen peas. mmmm. I have many happy memories of running around with a cup of frozen peas for a snack. Cats ---
**Author:** ![Catsmeow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Catsmeow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catsmeow)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/32 "2004-01-06T06:59:29Z")
oops, sorry. Preview should have been my friend. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/33 "2004-01-06T11:56:51Z")
I don’t eat vegetables. Never have, never will. ---
**Author:** ![acrossthesea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@acrossthesea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/acrossthesea)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/34 "2004-01-06T14:52:16Z")
My stepdaughter, who will be 3 next month, has always been a horribly picky eater. Vegetables are one of the many things she won’t touch. Because she doesn’t eat well, or drink well (she has to be endlessly commanded to drink or else she’d dehydrate daily), and because she still enjoys putting toys in her mouth, she gets colds often. She hates being sick and has this love of going to the doctor and a total belief that as soon as she gets a drop of medicine, she’s all better. She loves medicine when she doesn’t feel good. And because she doesn’t eat much, it seems she never feels good. (She’s ok though. Dr.s have said her weight is fine for her age.) So we tell her that vegetables (and all other foods she doesn’t like) are medicine and that she’ll feel better once she eats them. So she eats all her vegetables and then is happy because she feels healthier. My stepson, age 4, is the opposite. He eats anything and everything. He has a desire to grow up as fast as possible. So he eats and eats, telling everyone “I’m getting bigger now, see? I’m as big as you!” He especially loves spinach because it makes Popeye strong. The only thing he refuses to eat is pineapple because Spongebob lives in one. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/35 "2004-01-06T18:59:08Z")
Eating vegetables is cruel. I hear they raise them on large terror farms and “harvest” them with giant machines. I’m going to get a few of my buds this weekend and we’re going to liberate a few thousand bushels of wheat. Seriously though, nothing really worked on me when I was a kid. My mom would try everything. I was just too much of a hardass to fall for it. I’d literally sit at the table until bed time instead of finish my veggies. Then when I hit my teenage years, I discovered that I actually liked most of them. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/36 "2004-01-06T23:01:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by GuanoLad \* > \*\*I don’t eat vegetables. Never have, never will. \*\* Is it also still the case that despite your advanced age you have never had sex? Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/37 "2004-01-07T00:39:55Z")
My family used to pretend the pea’s were prisoners who had broken out of jail - _Escape Pea’s_! We had to catch them all and eat them quick. There were peas all over the place but we ate them. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/38 "2004-01-07T05:04:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slortar \* > \*\* > Seriously though, nothing really worked on me when I was a kid. My mom would try everything. I was just too much of a hardass to fall for it. I’d literally sit at the table until bed time instead of finish my veggies. Then when I hit my teenage years, I discovered that I actually liked most of them. Weird. \*\* Thank you for giving me hope. I have an almost 4 year old that will not eat a single vegetable. I can’t even get him to take a single bite. If I sneak some into whatever he’s eating he knows and refuses to swallow it. He’ll only eat one fruit in its recognizable form, the banana. He is concentrated stubbornness in small human form. I try not to worry too much, though. My younger cousin lived on sausages, Hula Hoops (chips) and peanut butter sandwiches for years and he’s now a tall, healthy (and pretty darn cute) guy who’ll eat almost anything. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/39 "2004-01-08T12:01:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by voguevixen \* > \*\*Is it also still the case that despite your advanced age you have never had sex? Just sayin’. \*\* No, this is no longer true. I did have a brief period of a relationship, including sex. Then it ended (her fault) and nothing since. I hope lack of vegetables is not to blame. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641/40 "2004-01-08T14:38:12Z")
Well, first I get them out of their wheelchairs… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-i-get-my-daughter-to-eat-vegetables/222641.md?page=3)