Silas: wheat-eating monster to Paleo Sweetie

Imagine yourselves invited to a New Year's Eve party in your small New England town by the one other family in town that might have something in common with you. Imagine you go to this family-friendly evening where the lovely Shannon and Andy have cooked the most delicious feast. Then imagine your 5 yr old son looking around at all the food and saying loudly, "There isn't any of MY kind of food here!!" Shannon is now a good friend of mine, but that wasn't a very auspicious beginning. Being Shannon, she laughed and asked him, "Silas, what is your kind of food?" At that moment in time the only things Silas ate were peanuts, crackers, toast, frozen blueberries, apples and cereal. In all seriousness, nothing is missing from the list. I have total familiarity with the situation of a "picky" eater. My oldest son came into the world with sensory integration issues. Food and eating was a total nightmare and his behavior was a total nightmare as well. He was super jolly and happy, but like a whirling dervish or perhaps like a small Barbarian. He could not control himself and I could not control him. If we went to a social gathering of any sort, Silas would race himself, sweaty and red-faced, around until he often actually threw up from the intensity and exhaustion. Those of you who now know my oldest son as someone who prefers not to shift himself at all until the book he is reading is finished, might find this hard to believe, but it was true. All the accompanying issues plagued our family-was I a bad parent? I tried everything. I was too strict, not strict enough, blah blah blah. Everyone had a solution that usually involved something I was doing wrong. Mothers get so used to taking the blame! Finally, a very wise woman said, "Feed him meat for breakfast and no more wheat." I knew instinctively she was onto something, but the idea of Silas eating meat for breakfast was hilarious. Thus began my experimentation with changing the eating of my child. However, I had one advantage that many parents do not. I did not ever "feel sorry for" or "feel badly" for my son. I notice that so many parents turn to jelly when their child is unhappy or struggling. Perhaps I am inherently hard-hearted, but when I know something will benefit my child I do not feel "guilty" or "sorry" for them during their struggle. When I began to change my son's food choices and he flipped out I was not distraught or immobilized with uncertainty. I do not believe my job is to create a situation where my child has their every whim met. I believe it is my job to raise up my kid as strong and healthy-physically and mentally- as is reasonable. If you are confident in your actions do not let a small tantruming person throw you off. The photo is of my son today-relaxed, mellow and totally suitable for bringing to New Year's Eve parties, with his lunch: fish, frozen blueberries, banana slices and baby lettuces with sea salt.