PLACE YOUR BETS: Will Your Kids Eat What You Made For Dinner?

High stakes poker. Horse races. Reality TV cooking competitions. They’re exciting, nerve-jangling, and suspenseful. Sometimes the outcome is impossible to predict until the final seconds.

You know what’s exactly like that?

Dinnertime with kids. Every time you make your kids dinner, you’re hoping they’ll love it and gobble it down.

But the truth is they often react more like this:

Which means that dinner each night is a true gamble — you never know when your kids are going to decide they despise that food that was their favorite literally yesterday. So here’s all the reactions you’ll have as you watch your kids play a nightly round of “Take That First Bite of Whatever I Just Made.”

“Stay cool. STAY COOL. Can’t risk a power play and let them know I care what they think about this dinner in even the tiniest way.”

Listen. This is the most important thing. If your child senses weakness, they will destroy you. And the food you cooked for them. Time for your game face.

“Where is this going? What’s going to happen? One kid. One mom. The suspense is killing me. WHO WILL WIN?”

Don’t let ‘em see you sweat. If you just serve it all “WHATEVER, HERE’S DINNER” and throw your hands in the air like you just don’t care, the more likely it is they’ll eat it. Seriously.

“Look, I know you need to count every noodle on your plate to make sure your brother didn’t get more, but can we wrap this up?”

Pro tip: Hedge your bets by introducing new things that are similar to the things they already like. Most kids like mac & cheese so they’ll never notice you slipped in a few veggies underneath that bowl of Annie’s new yummier than ever Classic Cheddar Mac & Cheese. They’ll just be stoked it’s mac & cheese night.

“Seriously, come ON. Let me have a win here. This is the exact same chicken you loved last week. I need a win!”

PLACE YOUR BETS! Will the child love the chicken they loved a few days ago? Or will it shortly become literal as they toss the food to the floor and the dog gets it before you can say, “Five second rule.” The dog will eat anything, after all. Maybe you should cook for the dog instead.

“Oh wow. Yeah. Yep. I took it too far. Flew too close to the sun. Today wasn’t the day to introduce kale and tofu pancakes.”

Pro tip: We all make this mistake and get a little too ambitious. And when that happens, just entice them with a side dish of snacks (cute bunny-shaped snacks have been known to lull their hangry). Is it the best dinner option? It’s the best option for your sanity so, yes, yes it is.

Kids can be tough to predict and you’re not going to win ‘em all, but know that in this high stakes game nothing is more baller than throwing the mom card down and saying, “This isn’t a restaurant.”

Nothing makes kids happier at dinner than Annie’s Mac & Cheese. Especially when it’s their new, yummier than ever Classic Cheddar Mac. This is more than just mac & cheese. It’s organic pasta, and real cheese goodness, that turns your typical dinner meltdowns into easy, cheesy wins for all. You won’t even have to wear your best poker face at dinnertime when it’s an Annie’s night. Annie’s. More Than Just Food.