“I could never eat like you do!”

Nic, my son Tennyson’s buddy, was watching me load up my Nike duffel bag with snacks for my 24 hours of flights to Milan, Italy, to stay at the Swiss Mountain Clinic (formerly Paracelsus al Ronc).

He shook his head as he watched, and we had this conversation.

Nic:  Robyn, I could never eat like you do. I don’t like that stuff.

Me:  I didn’t either, when I was your age, Nicky. But then I got fat. And really sick. I had, like, 20 diseases.

Nic:  Whoa!

Me:  Yeah. And so, when I ate stuff like this, I felt better. And then foods like these tasted good to me, too, after a while. It takes eating something for a little while to get used to it.

Tell your kids a story that’s on their level. About why you make the choices you do. Tomorrow, tell them another one. It’s the “drip method” of parenting. No lectures. Just bite-sized information they need.

You may not have won the war yet. But most kids, most of the time, follow their parents’ habits, for life. Good or bad.

Posted in: Whole Food