How to use Masterly Inactivity to Win Your Child to Healthy Eating for Life

Jan 9, 2009 by Anna Migeon

This post was featured in the Charlotte Mason blog carnival on Aug. 3, 2009.

You want to do something. You could do something. But you don’t.

“Masterly inactivity” describes this choice of the wise parent to restrain, when her urgings, grounded in her culture and upbringing, press her to speak or act.

The child who learns to enjoy what is good for her is the child whose parents have exercised a “wise passiveness,” a purposeful letting alone at the right moments.

What are some ways we can exercise restraint at the right time when serving dinner?

· You can and should purposely cook foods that are “good for you,” but it’s counterproductive to tell your kid your reasons and even worse to take further steps to induce them to eat.

· You have leftovers or other perishables that need to be eaten. Serve them first to a hungry eater. Do you not apologize,…