Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

After all this rain we got, we FINALLY got some real summer time weather here in New England!

It was 81 degrees outside today, and the perfect day to play outside in the Sprinklers!

 I seriously thought we wouldn't be putting on a bathing suit till we got to Texas with the way the weather has been here, but hooray for a hot summer day!

This is her "superhero" pose

D and I went to Target today with an agenda.

I only needed TWO things that were going to total around 30 bucks.

$160 dollars later and a Starbucks frappucino in hand, I was walking out of the store. 

I can't control myself there.

I know I'm not the only one.

This pretty much sums up most of my trips to Target...

And last...

I had the share this pic with y'all.

Yes, that is my daughter eating her supper in time out.

No, don't feel sorry for her.

She normally isn't a picky eater. 

Since she was very young, I made sure I introduced her to all kinds of foods so that she didn't end up being a "mac and cheese" or "ramen noodle" kid.

However, she's at the age where she likes to test her boundaries and independence.

One day, she'll eat an entire plate of broccoli, and the next day, she'll tell me till she is blue in the face that she's "ALWAYS hated broccoli".

I refuse to be the parent that makes "special" meals for my kids just because they don't like certain foods.

As a child, if I didn't like something my mom cooked, I didn't eat....it was as simple as that.

I am raising my daughter with the same philosophy. 

I've sent my kid to bed without eating dinner.

She wakes up starving the next morning.

I try and give her whatever she didn't eat the night before in the morning, and normally, she's hungry enough to eat it.

She understands that she can't have snacks or anything else until she at least tries the food I made her.
 I've been doing this method for as long as she's been on solid foods, and for the most part, she's not a very picky eater. 

My biggest thing is that she needs to at least TRY something before I let her have an opinion on whether she likes it or not.

For the most part, she likes everything I cook with the exception of shrimp, but she has tried it.

Last night, it was cauliflower and beets that she did not want.

She's had both vegetables before and loved both of them, so I knew she was just being stubborn and testing her boundaries with me.

After 15 minutes of reasoning with her to try it, I told her to take her plate to time out.

I told her she could leave time out once her plate was clean, or at least until she had tried it.

An hour later...

She ate her plate clean....

She even asked for seconds :-)