The first wealth is health . . .

"The first wealth is health." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I like this quote and try to remember it every time I enter the kitchen to prepare a family meal. We are not fanatic about eating totally healthy food and enjoy our treats, too. I do, however, make sure every meal includes a carb, vegetable, and protein. Dessert happens about three times a week. The snacks I keep on hand are usually leaning towards the healthy but tasty side. No one wants to eat cardboard even in the name of healthy eating! My rule is that if it doesn't have fiber and some vitamin value, why bother eating it.

We really learned the value of good eating when the children were little. Once they were eating solid food, we realized that what they learned to like at that moment would be what they remember to eat and enjoy when they grow up. We never gave them a choice at meals. Every plate got a serving of each item being offered. Everyone was expected to at least try a bit of each thing. If you absolutely didn't like what was on the plate, you had to finish your vegetables and could then leave the table. Naturally, if there was a dessert on the menu, more of the good effort had to be eaten in order to indulge in the sweet course.

Today, all my children eat just about anything. Sure, they have some items they can't stand but don't we all? Even out of their teens, they will still take a bite of the things they dislike for the sake of politeness. Over the years, however, those gracious bites have gotten them to like some of the foods they hated as children.

Not only was the food we fed them, the stuff of which their health depended, it turned them into young people with manners. When they eat out with friends or go to dinner outside the family, their hosts would never know how much they might dislike something on the menu.

People don't realize that what we allow them to eat when they are toddlers will mold the way they eat and behave as adults. You spoil them regarding their eating habits now, you deal with a spoiled person later in life. Everything in life is a challenge and learning experience. Besides giving them foods that build their bodies, you provide for their future both in health and actions.