La Greca Encourages Parents to Eat With Toddlers for Connection

Aspen —La Greca is asking you to sit down and eat with your child, even if it means eating the same food.

It sounds like a minor inconvenience for working parents on the Western Slope who are already juggling school runs and commute traffic. Why force a toddler to wait while you finish your meal? The answer, according to the latest column in the Aspen Times, is that forcing them away might be costing you more than just a few minutes of peace.

The author, writing under the byline La Greca, opens with a story about a nanny on her team. The nanny’s charge, a two-year-old, refused to eat dinner unless his parents sat down and ate with him. By the time the meal was ready, the mother was exhausted, waiting for a bite that never came.

To hear La Greca tell it, this isn’t just toddler stubbornness. It’s cultural logic.

"I do not remember eating dinner first while my parents planned to eat later," she wrote in the Aspen Times. "When dinner was ready, everyone sat down."

The column suggests that the modern habit of serving children early so adults can eat later is a practical shift, not necessarily an ideal one. It’s driven by complicated schedules and early bedtimes. But for a toddler, the table is where connection happens.

"His parents pulled up their chairs and had plates of their own," La Greca noted. "He was not simply refusing his food. He was asking for connection. He was waiting for family time."

The math holds up when you look at how young children learn. They watch us hold forks, choose what’s on our plates, and judge whether we enjoy the food. Then they copy us.

"I can offer them something and get very little interest, then sit down with my own plate and suddenly hear, 'What’s that?' or 'Can I try it?'" La Greca wrote.

The advice for locals is straightforward: use the toddler’s desire to mimic you. You don’t need to cook a separate meal. Sit down with them, even if you’re just having a small snack. Put some of the same foods on your plate.

"If you are sweeping, they want a broom. If you are putting on shoes, they want to put on theirs. The same goes for food," she wrote. "Your child may not necessarily want your food. They want your experience."

This matters for families in Aspen, Glenwood Springs, and the towns along I-70 who are trying to establish routines. It suggests that the friction of waiting for parents at the table isn’t a failure of discipline, but an opportunity for engagement.

The column closes with a clear directive for parents who want to reduce dinner-time battles without sacrificing their own schedule.

"Sometimes the best encouragement is not saying, 'Take one bite.' It is simply eating it yourself," La Greca concluded.