Cookie cutters to the rescue

My kids like most foods.  Especially fruit. 

My kids don't like to eat most foods repeatedly.  Especially fruit.

If they had strawberries today, they might happily eat them again tomorrow, but three days in a row just isn't going to happen around here these days.  The little one used to eat whatever she was offered, even if it was 5 days straight of blueberries for morning snack, but these days she turns her nose up at things just as fast as the big one does if she looks inside the container and sees something she saw just the day before.

The exception to their fruit-must-not-be-the-same-too-many-days-in-a-row rule is cantaloupe.  They will eat it every day if we have it.  And between the two of them, they can eat an entire cantaloupe in one sitting.  It's rather impressive, actually!

The rest of the time, however, I am always buying different fruits to put in the rotation - apples, peaches/nectarines (white and yellow), apricots, plums (dinosaur and pluot are nice alternatives to the red and black when we need more variety), all the different berries, mangoes, kiwis (green and golden), melons (the usual suspects plus hybrids like galia and santa claus, too), persimmons, grapes (green and red and sometimes we luck out and find seedless black), and the list goes on an on.   Luckily, it's not too difficult to keep things interesting since there are so many fruits to choose from. 

So, what's the problem, you ask?  Watermelon.  They big ones.  Not the cute, little, baby ones that are similar in size to their cantaloupe and honeydew relatives and are easily polished off in a day or two.  I mean the giant kind.  The thank-goodness-for-the-produce-man-who-lifted-it-into-my-cart-but-now-how-can-I-fit-this-in-the-fridge kind.  We love watermelon, but it's difficult to get through one of the giants before my kids look at me like I have three heads when I suggest it for snack the umpteenth day in a row.

This week we had watermelon in wedges with the rind on, cut into chunks in a bowl, and pureed and frozen as fruit pops.  And there was still some left.  

So, what did I do?  I went to the grocery store and bought a gigantic YELLOW-FLESH watermelon, of course!  Much excitement ensued.  My big kid could barely contain his excitement.  But, I said we had to finish the other one before we cut it open.

Here's where a mother must get creative and be willing (and eager!) to trick her children.
 
Think fast, Mommy.  Think fast.

Aha!  Shaped watermelon, of course!  We never make cookies that are rolled and cut out, so let's put those cookie cutters to use!

This got me THREE MORE DAYS of VERY eager watermelon consumption by the big one.

He is much more easily manipulated than little one who still sees watermelon as watermelon no matter how it's packaged, cut, served, or described!  But, to her credit, she played along with our excitement the first day and enthusiastically chomped on a flying airplane, beheaded a teddy bear, and give a hand a high-five.

She just wouldn't eat the whole shape before getting bored and wanting something new.  And on days two and three she was definitely not buying what I was selling.  You win some, you lose some, right?!?!