Am I being unreasonable?

To let Rayce sit at the table for the 15 minutes or so it takes all the rest of us to eat

then to tell him repeatedly for another 10 or 15 minutes to eat

then to tell him I'm setting the timer for 5 minutes

and that if he hasn't eaten most of his dinner by then, he's going right to bed

half an hour early??

Is that completely unreasonable??

I'm not the type to insist my kids clean their plates.

But I do insist they eat enough to sustain them.

I give all three (or five, depending on the night) kids about the same amount of food.

The girls usually eat all of theirs and ask for seconds a lot of the time too.

Rayce is bigger. Older. And involved with some sports. 

He should be eating at least close to as much as the girls, if not more.

I can sense when they're not eating because they're not feeling well, and I don't make them eat anything at those times, although I push fluids if necessary.

I would never force them to eat something they truly, really, and honestly do not like.

And like I said, I don't make them clean their plates or eat all of anything.

But they do need to eat enough to keep them from getting hungry again before the next time they will get to eat.

Rayce is the most difficult child at meal time.

Every night...

"What are we having for dinner?"

"XXX"

"I don't like XXX"

even though he asked for it last week.

He insists he doesn't like XXX, isn't hungry, blah blah blah.

Then five minutes after the table is cleared, he wants a go-gurt and some pretzels.

It's frustrating!!

So, I sent him to bed.

Half an hour early.

Because I'm sick of fighting and if he had stayed up and asked for something to eat after refusing dinner, it was gonna get ugly.

*sigh*