I have four kids between the ages of 14 and 7. As I have been lactose intolerant for, oh, all of their 'remembering', I've always been a pretty careful regarding what I can/cannot eat.
When my IBS kicked it up a notch last fall, the changes I made and continue to make really don't cause much of a ripple b/c I was already pretty high maintenance, food wise.
That I now get up in the morning and eat oatmeal everyday is an oddity... I have always skipped breakfast - always... so we are all eating breakfast together for a nice change.
My dinners have almost always been different on the whole - if I make them something with dairy (enchiladas! pizza! etc...) I will have something else - usually a salad, as I can eat lettuce, at the same time they're eating. But often our main meal is something everyone can eat. We lean more and more towards vegetarianism - vegan burgers on the grill with fake cheese (for me) to cut out a lot of the fat (which is my worst offender)... and the kids have been pretty good about not fussing if they 'taste different'.
One of my kids has turned out to be pretty lactose intolerant herself - developed moreso over the last year as well - so we're leaning more and more to all non-dairy things which makes it even easier for me.
However, I continue to provide the kids with things they love to eat: whole grains, fruits and vegetables, even if I don't eat them myself. I also don't tend to eat things that I wouldn't want them to have... like sliced white bread... on a regular basis.
(We'll buy a loaf of french bread... or vienna... or baguettes made at the store when we eat 'white bread'.)
I think, too, that my diet isn't limited enough in the "good things", that they could look at it and say, 'well, I'm not going to eat it if you don't!' If I provide enough choices, to include the things I can eat, and the things they can eat, they don't notice, so much, that I'm not eating ALL of it because I have SOME of it.
Overall, my kids tastes pretty diverse and I've found that as long as I provide them with what they have grown accustomed to eating - what they like, and what is good for them, with an occasional treat every now and then (we all need them!) my dietary differences aren't noticed quite so much.
(My 6yo asked for a box of cherry tomatoes as a treat at the grocery store the other day... while the other one asked for popscicles... the 6yo at the tomatoes first and then had a popscicle.)
Choices, choices, choices!
Good luck finding a balance... it will all work out!
michelle
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Re: For anyone who has toddlers or school age children....
