I know that I am not alone when I say this about my lovely three year old son. But, as adorable as he is, I absolutely dread dinner time with him.

Every night at dinner he gives us a hard time about eating. He'll tell us he is hungry and wants to eat dinner, and then as he's sitting at the table will hardly touch it. Then, dinner becomes a war. We've sent him to bed without dinner if he doesn't eat within a certain time frame, we've let him take his sweet ass time with the result of him seldom eating... nothing works!

We do not have this problem with any other meal of the day, which is what really annoys me! I try my absolute best to not let his behavior to appear to bother me (he's a smart little one though, that Hayden), and we always follow through with any threats that we make regarding going to bed, taking away his food, etc. Ultimately it seems as he doesn't care.

About once a week he'll eat dinner without a fight, but the other 6 days of the week we have to result in parental warfare to get the food in his tummy. We know he's hungry, and at the same time we are not the type of parents that would make him finish every bite of food on his plate. Knowing what we know about Hayden though he'd wake up in the middle of the night hungry for a snack, which is absolutely not acceptable! Eat your darn food my dear! And, of course... he always "magically" has room for yogurt, crackers, a banana, or any other food items other than his dinner.

I know that this is normal, and is likely just a phase that will pass (sooner than later, I hope). But man oh man... does anyone have any other tips for us? Dinner has turned in to our desperation hour. All we want is a peaceful family dinner!