Eating The Alphabet

I've eaten a lot of things. Asparagus...broccoli...cauliflower.

But the whole alphabet? Not so much.

But the book with that title, Eating the Alphabet, is worth serving up to your kids. The bright pictures are guaranteed to get them eating their fruits and veggies.

Okay, so I wouldn't go that far.

But I do believe that sneaking nutrition education in outside of mealtimes is a smart thing to do. (I learned that little trick from TV commercials, yes I did. If they can promote pop tarts, I can push parsnips.)

Now, your dinner table may be the very definition of vegetable love, with children begging for broccoli and pleading for peas.

Yes, I suppose that might happen. In one out of every eight gazillion households.

But for me, I currently have one child who thinks that broccoli is an abomination, and can barely stand the sight of the itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny greeny-stalky broccolini I so faithfully place on his plate every week.

So my latest tactic is just to brainwash, er, I mean "influence" him in other ways. Books work. He loves to snuggle up and show off his ABC knowledge to his Mama. And maybe I'm under some strange delusion, but I figure that his familiarity with words like "jicama," "kumquat," and "kohlrabi" can't help but push him towards acceptance of the food itself.

So thanks to the author, Lois Ehlert, for inspiring me once again to eat well, and to teach my kids to do the same.

And at the very least, we'll at least know the names of our vegetables, from A to Z.