For the love of cheese

(Photo by Chance Agrella / FreeRangeStock.com)

In early September, my daughter started complaining off and on that her stomach hurt. The tummy aches would last only seconds, and didn't occur daily. She had her yearly checkup coming up, so I decided to wait until her appointment. Either the tummy aches would go away before then or I'd see if the doctor had insights into what might be causing it and what we could do about it.

Well, the tummy aches kept occurring, so after my daughter's pediatrician ran through all of the regular checks, I asked if I should be concerned about the stomach issue.

The doctor recommended that we pay attention to when the bellyaches occur. For instance, are they more likely when our daughter might be nervous about school? Does she complain of it more at a particular time of day? Is she maybe eating too much dairy? Is she getting enough veggies?

It was the last two suggestions that most got my attention. Getting my daughter to eat vegetables has long been a struggle, and while she by no means eats cheese on a daily basis, she does have it a few times a week. She loves cheese, and has since she was first tasted it. If it were up to her, she'd eat nothing but grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and mid-afternoon snack. When she was about 2 years old, she would pull the bread slices off of her grilled cheese sandwiches, toss them aside, and eat just the cheese.

Given the option to eat a chocolate bar or a stick of string cheese, my kid would pick the cheese. No lie.

Is it possible that I've been giving her too much cheese just because I know she likes it? That's what I figure. So I've been easing off the cheese and doing what I can to encourage her to eat her vegetables.

The end result: The tummy-ache complaints are at lot less frequent (thankfully), and more often than I'd like, she and I have some variation of this conversation:

• Me: I don't know what to make for dinner.
• Her: How about cheese quesadillas?
• Me: No cheese today. The doctor said that may be what has been hurting your belly.
• Her: My belly hasn't been hurting anymore.
• Me: I know, but that's probably because you haven't been eating cheese.

Based on the look she gives me, I don't think she believes me.