I thought the Mastering Mealtimes Membership would just tell me things I already knew.  I’ve bought stuff from people I followed on Instagram before and I always regretted it.  Plus, I didn’t want to spend more time prepping stuff that takes away family time.  I work all day and meal time already feels rushed and crazy.  In reality, Mastering Mealtimes fits very well into what we are already doing as a family. I don’t feel stressed to make drastic changes to my shopping or meal prep. It’s little tweaks that make life easier. 

The biggest win so far is seeing my daughter eat lettuce. I honestly thought it would never happen.  The program has given me go-to sentences that roll off the tongue and it makes things easier for both of us.  I feel like I’m acquiring secret tools.

Food is important but it shouldn’t be a time consuming, stressful thing. I think the philosophy of this program is to leave some of the burden to the expert, and then just use that freed up brain space to be a goofball with your kid. And then somehow your kid is suddenly eating handfuls of LETTUCE (still blown away by this) and MIXED FOODS!

Before joining the program, my biggest struggle with feeding was the fact my daughter ignores whole food groups (vegetables), mostly will just eat the safe food on her plate, and would hold out for preferred foods. She doesn’t necessarily protest at the food being there, more completely ignores it as if it doesn’t exist.  I also found that feeding her/ thinking about food consumed a lot of my energy and generally made me feel quite stressed. I especially worried that she wasn’t getting a balanced diet. 

Before starting the lessons I thought mostly I was following DOR, but now that I’ve learned more, I realize I wasn’t.  Now I have the confidence to hold boundaries!  My mindset has also significantly improved.  Having a clear plan and understanding the underlying reasons and it not being my fault has really helped take a lot of the stress around food away. This in turn has helped my child so much.

Also for my daughter, family style serving helped her try bolognaise sauce for the first time in months.  She said “oh this food is delicious.”  She pretty consistently started putting rice and bolognese sauce together on a fork and eating it MIXED which is great!  She’s also now asking for vegetables to be on her plate and serving / chopping them.  I wouldn’t have had the courage to help her achieve these changes without the support of Kim and the program!

Overall, the help is all inside the program – it’s brilliant. I want parents to know, you NEED support. It’s invaluable to have people who understand and are going through the same thing. Plus with the Membership, you always have that advice/reassurance in your pocket.  I already have gone back over lessons to remind myself of the “right” thing to do.

I was hesitant to sign up because I didn’t know if it would address my son’s sensory issues.  I was struggling with how to present food in new ways and get in exposures. 

Now I’m way more confident when I feed my son.  Kim’s program gave me the language to use when he wouldn’t try a new food.  I love that I can access the information any time.  I print materials to use as cheat sheets in my kitchen.  Kim is so approachable and available for questions. 

Overall, Mastering Mealtimes is a game changer.  I never thought my son would stop eating pureed vegetables and this program has changed his life.

My biggest struggle before joining was getting my daughter to eat.  She’s a grazer and really struggles to try more than hotdogs and macaroni and cheese.  My husband works nights so I would come home from a long day of work and immediately feel defeated and alone.  My stress was stressing her out too. Mealtimes were more work than enjoyment.

Since joining, we have made small changes.  We take our time and don’t give up.

One great success we had was coming home from our family vacation.  We felt gross from eating snacks and mainly at restaurants all week.  When going to the grocery store, our 3 year old asked for a broccoli dog.  We went home and she ate broccoli and played with it for almost an hour.

The hands on – like the broccoli dog – that’s what my daughter really likes. It’s been so much fun and very interactive.  As a teacher I love that everything is sensory.  It’s the bomb.  I know that’s what kids need.  You can’t just tell them to eat broccoli because it’s healthy.  They don’t care and push their plate away.  So to get to play with it instead – they love it!

And now she’s requesting veggies.  I can’t believe it.  Shes trying bites of things I didn’t think I’d ever get her to try.

As we continue to work through the program we’ve gained back a sense of calmness around food again.  The program has helped take so much pressure off me.