[aspenhall]

Could you try sending him away when it's food time... declare that he's old enough to bring himself to the table when he's hungry.....and ignore him....I really wonder if it's just the easiest way to get attention now....like it may have started as something else initially, but has morphed into this.

Try the shock value of refusing to show up for the battle. It sounds like this has become routine.

The note is sweet, even if it isn't genuine, it came from the thoughts inside his head. He may actually need to win the food battle (make you give up) in order to be able to abandon it. As a teen I felt I had to fight even when I knew I was in the wrong, and I wouldn't win. It was a pride thing that if my mom would have let me alone about it, I would have done things her way or the right way, but in a battle I simply had to fight. I was pretty stubborn. It had a lot to do with self esteem. Admitting I was wrong was an emotional blow that I couldn't take. Now I'm better at it but it still gives me difficulty. I'll argue for years that the sky is green, if I am pushed about it. But quit pushing and I wait a while then come around when I think everyone's forgotten about the issue.