new and hoping for sme advice

[bethramsden]

Hi I am new to the site, I have found out some really useful information from scrolling through the different forums etc but I am looking for some advice for my family..Here are our dynamics and issues/problems??.. i have one son aged 12 he has just been diagnosed with spina bifida occulta after a long 9 year old battle between my husband and me and the drs including a diagnosis of munchausens by proxy because i refused to accept the lame diagnosis we first got.. then i have 2 step-children aged 11 and 8 my step daughter aged 8.5 needs bigger clothes buying than for her age and i am struggling to find clothes suitable for an 8.5 year old that do not resemble a teenager any advice there?? also wqe can't get her to eat veges she is told by her mum who also doesn't eat them that she won'tlike them we are fighting a huge losing battle and my husband and i are almost at the end of our tether any advice would be great.... thanks x

I didn't want to leave your post unanswered I'm not a lot of use on most of your issues I'm sorry for what you've gone through with your son and well done for battling on to get the right diagnosis.

With the vegetables I'd reccomend blending them into foods she enjoys so say a tomato sauce for veg could contain blended carrots, mushrooms, peppers and celery or even blending them into soups or perhaps smoothies? A juicer would be a good idea as carrot apple and orange juice is absolutly lovely and you can't taste the carrot at all.

With the veggies, I would try to be really creative and attractive with the presentation - plus maybe present the veggies together with fruit - in the summer a beautifully presented, colourful salad, with the odd strawberry as an enticement - so the veggies look MUCH better than any of the accompaniments (maybe some very basic cardboard-like factory bread). Also as much as possible get her involved in the cooking - putting the toppings on a pizza with (only) a range of really fresh, really colourful vegetables. Could you even get her gardening - I´ll never forget how fantastic my cucumbers tasted which I grew myself as a 7 year old in our greenhouse (I think it works in any sunny window - a friend of mine grew amazing cherry tomatoes on the window sill in her tiny flat).

smoothies are a great disguise for friut and veggies mixed together,sorry to hear about your sons diagnosis.

simic's idea of gardening is a great one, there is no way a child won't want to try veg they have grown themselves. You can grow carrots and dwarf green beans in pots. Tomatoes, courgettes, peppers and aubergines can be grown in grow bags but tend to need a lot of sun. But peas, sugar snap peas, mangetout and runner beans can be grown in big pots with bamboo canes and they don't take long to grow - and sugar snap peas are super yummy.

thanks so much for the ideas, theyre really great especially the growing your own veg i think she may just go for that... fingers crossed...