Don’t Give Up!

Progress is achieved in spurts at our household. The only fruit Big Brother accepts is applesauce (which he is starting to phase out of his diet), so I thought it was time to work with him on accepting other forms of apple. We read books about growing and harvesting apples (see my Apples, Apples, Apples post for more apple-theme ideas), went to the grocery store and looked at all the different kinds of apples in the produce section, and baked and tried apple crisp (we’d had success with it before; this time he accepted it on his plate but didn’t want to touch or eat the crunchy topping). I was getting frustrated and discouraged. After all our effort, it didn’t seem like we were making any progress.

When I was least expecting it, we made giant leaps of progress! I cut apples into butterfly, star, and train shapes using a cookie cutter and gave Big Brother a shaker with some cinnamon and sugar in it. He sprinkled cinnamon/sugar on his apple cutouts and started licking the cinnamon/sugar off! (He has never touched apple slices, let alone licked them!) One evening we watched a couple of videos about harvesting apples (video 1 & video 2). When we watched it the first time, he didn’t seem very interested. However, when daddy came home, he excitedly asked daddy if he’d watch it with him. Then at supper, I sliced up an apple to share with Baby Sister. Big Brother asked for an apple train. He proudly showed daddy how to sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on it and lick it off the apple.

This was a great reminder to be patient and not give up. Even if it seems like little progress is being made, your child is benefiting from the learning activities that you implement. Try not to become discouraged and don't rush your child – he needs to be free to move at his own pace.