I don't like spinach, peas, OR zucchini....How to get your child to eat vegetables

Feel like a short order cook these days?  "I don't like broccoli!  Yuck, eww, ick -zucchini!  I hate carrots!  I won't eat tomatoes!" 

Are you finding peas in the milk glass, carrots on the floor, cauliflower concealed carefully in a napkin?  What to do when your kid refuses vegetables?

TRY THIS:  "Peanut, it is important for us to eat vegetables for strong bones and muscles and healthy bodies for running and playing and thinking.  I know there are some vegetables that you don't like.  Why don't we make a list of all the vegetables you DO like and I will make those for dinner so you can eat them and be healthy.  But, when I do make something that is not on the list, you have to try it with TWO bites because you never know when your tongue is going change its mind and decide it likes something it didn't before."

NOT THAT:  You are not leaving this dinner table until you have eaten everything on your plate.

WHY:  Kids are a lot more cooperative when they have a say in the matter.  Plus they have every right, as do you, to not like a vegetable (brussels sprouts anyone?) By having THEM generate a list of options you increase the likelihood that they will eat the vegetables you serve.  However, continue to serve the offending greens every once in a while with the rule being they at least have to try the offending item.  Knowing they don't have to finish it makes them feel more in control and therefore cooperative.  You never know when "ick" will become "yum."