Teaching Children about Food

[John Whiting]

My wife Mary Whiting's latest book, Dump the Junk, is a collection of over 300 tips from parents explaining how they nudged their children away from the highly advertised peer-pressured rubbish in the direction of real food. (There's a way of linking to Amazon in such a way as to benefit eGullet, but I'm afraid I don't know what it is. Tried once, couldn't make it work.)

[Busboy]

Feeding kids is a daily exercise in "the art of the possible." Laying down hard and fast rules, or attempting to hold kids and yourself to a higher plane of dining is frustrating and impractical. In my experience children's tastes are arbitrary and, in the short-term, utterly inflexible. Balanced against the ideal of diverse, nutritious, home-cooked food is the reality of busy lives and a desire to get through dinner without a battle over the creamed spinach.

At our house, we have a repetoire of "generally recognized as safe" dishes, and when we go beyond that, we generally make sure that there is enough other food around to fill the kids up. For example, if we're eating fish, which my children loathe (why? I have no idea), we'll make extra rice and vegatables. If there's a sausage or two in the fridge we might fry them up, but the general rule regarding custom children's dinners is that the kids have to eat a variation of the adult's meal, and no extra hassle should be involved. We made eggs benedict the other night, the kids were allowed to have scrambled eggs, since they are not persuaded of the genius of Hollandaise, and scrambling a couple of eggs while you wait for the another batch to pach is no problem.

Kid's tastes are funny things. Ours were exposed to pretty much every kind of cooking there is. They were much more adventurous at two than at four, and there was a long period of very picky eating. Now, at 11 and 15, their palates are again broadening, and I don't worry too much. As a child I didn't even like pepperoni on my pizza, as an adult I had to be convinced to try Thai food. Now, I get jellyfish cravings.

[PoetsGirl]

That is interesting, and I see where it is coming from to a degree, but I can't say that I agree with it.

When I have children they will most certainly be exposed to a wide variety of foods. I will not be one of these parents who will cook macaroni and cheese endlessly if they do not like what is for dinner. They will either eat what is being served, or they will go hungry. I am assuming the eating of what is served will eventually win over. I am simply disturbed by the fact that many children today feel they have more rights than they actually do. Obedience to one's parents seems to be becoming lost, and children feel that they can say 'I'm not going to do that because I don't want to' without repercussion.

With regards to vegetarianism, I have to completely disagree with the author's comments. I could most definately argue with a child who feels it is cruel to eat animals. Human beings were put on this eart omnivorous, we are designed and built to subsist on the flesh of plant and animal alike. Any child of mine who gets it into his head that animals have souls or rights will have that idea quickly squashed out.

How often does and adult go out and willingly buy, cook and eat food they know they don’t like? They don’t. If you cooked dinner for your father and you knew he didn’t like what you cooked, would you tell him to eat what he is being served or go hungry? No.

Most of the time children are at the mercy of adults when it comes to food. Kids are people too and I think their individual tastes should be taken into consideration when meals are planned - It’s the considerate, loving and respectful thing to do.

Forcing a kid to eat something he/she doesn’t like only does one thing – makes them afraid to try anything new for fear of being forced to eat it if they don’t like it. This is completely counterproductive.

I don’t make pb&j or any other thing when I make something for dinner that one of my kids doesn’t like, (and I have four of them and they are all different) but I would rather take a little extra time in my planning and preparation to make sure there is a little extra of something I know they DO like as part of a meal that I know they don’t care for. And the nice thing is I will usually get a secret “thanks Mom” from the one who knows he was covered.

I also ask my kids often - what they want to eat, what they want to try, what sounds good, lets try something new. It’s amazing what kids will eat when they have a say in the matter, (and I am not talking about crap, they know McDonalds is not an option). My children are not spoiled, but they know I care about their opinion and I care what they eat, and I know that they appreciate that.

Geez, I love my kids. I think I'll go make all their favorite dinners! (Because I know what they all are.)

[NulloModo]

That is interesting, and I see where it is coming from to a degree, but I can't say that I agree with it.

When I have children they will most certainly be exposed to a wide variety of foods.  I will not be one of these parents who will cook macaroni and cheese endlessly if they do not like what is for dinner.  They will either eat what is being served, or they will go hungry.  I am assuming the eating of what is served will eventually win over.  I am simply disturbed by the fact that many children today feel they have more rights than they actually do.  Obedience to one's parents seems to be becoming lost, and children feel that they can say 'I'm not going to do that because I don't want to' without repercussion. 

With regards to vegetarianism, I have to completely disagree with the author's comments.  I could most definately argue with a child who feels it is cruel to eat animals.  Human beings were put on this eart omnivorous, we are designed and built to subsist on the flesh of plant and animal alike.  Any child of mine who gets it into his head that animals have souls or rights will have that idea quickly squashed out.

How often does and adult go out and willingly buy, cook and eat food they know they don’t like? They don’t. If you cooked dinner for your father and you knew he didn’t like what you cooked, would you tell him to eat what he is being served or go hungry? No.

Most of the time children are at the mercy of adults when it comes to food. Kids are people too and I think their individual tastes should be taken into consideration when meals are planned - It’s the considerate, loving and respectful thing to do.

Forcing a kid to eat something he/she doesn’t like only does one thing – makes them afraid to try anything new for fear of being forced to eat it if they don’t like it. This is completely counterproductive.

I don’t make pb&j or any other thing when I make something for dinner that one of my kids doesn’t like, (and I have four of them and they are all different) but I would rather take a little extra time in my planning and preparation to make sure there is a little extra of something I know they DO like as part of a meal that I know they don’t care for. And the nice thing is I will usually get a secret “thanks Mom” from the one who knows he was covered.

I also ask my kids often - what they want to eat, what they want to try, what sounds good, lets try something new. It’s amazing what kids will eat when they have a say in the matter, (and I am not talking about crap, they know McDonalds is not an option). My children are not spoiled, but they know I care about their opinion and I care what they eat, and I know that they appreciate that.

Geez, I love my kids. I think I'll go make all their favorite dinners! (Because I know what they all are.)

We are talking about different things here. If a kid has tried a certain thing multiple times and really really hates it, of course you shouldn't make a point to cook it all the time and include that ingredient in every dish of the meal, that would be mean.

But at the same time, even though kids are people, they don't really know what they like and dislike yet. They have strong opinions, but no foundation for them. There is a difference between leaving mushrooms out of a particular dish from time to time because you have a dinner guest who prefers the dish without them, and having a kid who won't take a bite of something because he sees a mushroom, and although he has never tried one, won't eat it because he thinks it is icky.

So you keep serving those dishes with mushrooms up for the kid until one day finally he tries one, and at least at that point he can start to form an opinion about whether or not he likes mushrooms. In no way do I expect everyone to like everything, after all, there are some things that I don't particularly care for out there, but I also remember that when I was younger I had some random and illogical aversions to certain foods (okra I remember being a big one) and if my parents hadn't constantly pushed me to try them I might have never actually discovered that they taste good.

[hjshorter]

Children come into the world as a relatively blank slate, they do not yet have prejudices, they have to learn these.

You would think so, wouldn't you? But in my experience, it's not the case. Small children have much more sensitive palates and prefer blander meals initially. This was probably an evolutionary advantage. Sweet flavors and fat (just like mom's milk) are absolutely preferred.

My daughter is very adventurous about taste, but not texture. My son is more limited in his taste preferences. There is a very good chance that one or both is a supertaster like their mother, if so I have a long row to hoe getting them accustomed to bitter greens, hot peppers, and stinky cheese - things I could not eat until I was an adult. They are served kale regularly, but neither has learned to like it yet and there's no way I am going to force it down their throats just to prove a point.

[hjshorter]

My wife Mary Whiting's latest book, Dump the Junk, is a collection of over 300 tips from parents explaining how they nudged their children away from the highly advertised peer-pressured rubbish in the direction of real food. (There's a way of linking to Amazon in such a way as to benefit eGullet, but I'm afraid I don't know what it is. Tried once, couldn't make it work.)

Thanks John. Several of my friends will be getting a copy for the holidays this year.

[katzenjammy]

Check this out, especially the table listing kid likes/dislikes. Synopsis: "While the physiology of taste can partially account for a wide variety of individual differences at birth, studies show that food neophobia is a normal behavior in children."

I was an extraordinarily picky eater as a child. With the exception of sweets, I'd only eat about three things. No one made a stink about it, though one grandmother went to extremes in a futile attempt to fatten me up (slipping eggs into milkshakes, ewww). Beginning around early adolescence, my tastes began to broaden. By the time I hit college, I'd pretty much eat anything that wasn't fast enough to run away.

In the course of 20 years of motherhood and stepmotherhood, I've observed exactly the same progression in my kids.

[jsolomon]

Having not been an adult long--I'm currently 27, still a sapling--I remember a few of my food peccadilloes quite vividly. One was a quite long year-plus stretch where I stated that I absolutely abhorred hot dogs. I can come up with no reason why other than I had simply made up my mind. One place children seem to have attention is at the breakfast/lunch/dinner/supper table, and that seems like a natural place for us to attempt to show our independent agency.

When I think seeds started to make a me a food appreciator was when my mother was working a full-time split shift at UPS, my father was busy in the fields (farmer) and my brother and I were old enough to not "need" babysitting. This meant that the cooking duties fell to my brother and I. Since I was younger and generally agreeable, my brother kept telling me, "You cook. You do it better." A ploy which gave him more time to play, watch TV, do homework, etc. I never questioned his statement; although in retrospect, I question his motives.

What sorts of things did I start cooking? Well, easy stuff. Spaghetti, Hamburger Helper, hamburgers, grilled steaks, pork chops, potatoes, nuked veggies, boiled veggies. They may not be gourmet, and they may not even be "great" foods, but they provided me with a solid platform of tasting and preparing experience that I could build further knowledge from. From a food standpoint, I think those were the beginnings of my tongue becoming an informed consumer.

Bless my parents, they never complained... unless I burnt something.

[John Whiting]

My wife Mary Whiting's latest book, Dump the Junk, is a collection of over 300 tips from parents explaining how they nudged their children away from the highly advertised peer-pressured rubbish in the direction of real food. (There's a way of linking to Amazon in such a way as to benefit eGullet, but I'm afraid I don't know what it is. Tried once, couldn't make it work.)

Thanks John. Several of my friends will be getting a copy for the holidays this year.

It seems to be inexplicably out of stock on amazon.com, though available on amazon.co.uk. Last week it got special mention in the Guild of Food Writers' campaigning journalism prize category.

[snowangel]

My children have grown up on stories of the first time I "butchered" a chicken -- I was age 9. The have grown up on stores of my father buthering cows and pigs.

They are expected to try before they decline, and the work "yuck" is not part of their vocabulary (not permitted at our table). We, too, expect that all of them (except Heidi, who is non verbal) to tell us what they do or do not like about the food served. Rule of thumb is that if you haven't tried it, don't tell me you don't like it. However, once tried, I do respect the fact that not everyone likes everything.

I, the primary cooker in the household, does ask for input for meal suggestions from everyone in the household. It's amazing how those kids can come up with creative combinations, and how much they can appreciate tastes that are not typical in the suburban American household.

They have been raised on ginger, garlic, onions and peppers, as well as more subtle flavors. Teach them young.

[kiliki]

When I have children they will most certainly be exposed to a wide variety of foods. I will not be one of these parents who will cook macaroni and cheese endlessly if they do not like what is for dinner. They will either eat what is being served, or they will go hungry.

I'm glad someone brought up the fact that kids have way more sensitive palates than adults. You simply cannot expect every kid to like what your adult palate thinks is good. You can expose them to lots of different foods, but they could reject most to all of them except their favorite few, and then you are left with the choices of unfairly expecting them to eat to your tastes, letting them go hungry (which seems VERY unfair) or...making them endless boxes of mac and cheese (it takes 5 minutes. Get over it).

My mom use to force me to eat what she made and I still shudder thinking about being forced to eat/drink milk, hot dogs and canned veggies. She finally gave up when I was about 7 and said, fine, cook for yourself. I did-I could make perfect crepes at age 8 (though mostly I made my same favorite kid foods over and over). My palate didn't really "grow up" until I was 18 or so, and it had nothing to do with my parents making me try different foods, and everything to do with a growing interest in cooking and food that none of the rest of my family shares.

[Cusina]

Disclaimer: I really believe the best way to stay sane as a parent is to keep your sense of humor. Please keep this in mind as you read the following.

Hokay, so armed with lots of good advice and intentions, we decided to take the kids to the Japanese Hibachi place last night in search of something different for them, to broaden their horizons.

5:30, Monday night, place is empty. We are shown to our grill/table at which point we explain carefully to the children (4 and 6) what is going to happen. The table is a stove, it's going to get really hot, the meal will be cooked in front of us, yadda yadda. Now, this isn't too much of a stretch, the kids love the Mongolian BBQ grill style place here in town and so they seem to understand. We order. My son, 4, says straight out he isn't interested in anything except grilled cheese or popcorn shrimp. Oh boy...

So we order him the shrimp (non-popcorn, but oh well). My daughter orders the filet mignon, which I know she will love. The choice of soup or salad with their meal is met with hesitation and then an order of the soup. Which they actually both eat and enjoy. Gee, we think, this was a good idea.

The chef arrives, tall funny toque, nice young hispanic guy (I know, I know... serious shortage of Japanese folks in the upper midwest). He proceeds to do his stchick, tossing knives and spatulas every which way. My son's eyes get HUGE and he very seriously warns the chef. "Be careful" We laugh, thinking this is cute. The vegetables come out. My son declares he doesn't like mushrooms. The chef makes a little tower with the onions, my son declares he doesn't like onions either. The chef fills the tower full of oil, pours quite a bit of another substance into it and then lights a match. WHOOMMMM, a giant fireball flies out of the tower right at us. Startled me, freaked my son out to no end. He was HOWLING, climbing up my leg. Holy shit. When we have done this before there was a polite little pflume of flame coming out of the top of the tower, not a rolling inferno.

At this point my son is in hysterics, in my lap crying. I am apologizing profusely to the chef and suggesting that maybe the pyro-technics shouldn't continue. Thank god the restaurant was still empty. Son finally calms down after about 5 minutes and many reassurances there will be no more fire. He makes it through the rest of the show, crying intermittently every time the chef makes a loud noise or tosses something his way. Eats half his bowl of rice, a few spoonfulls of soup, a bowl of orange sherbert and finally we manage to drag ourselves out of there. In the meantime my son has declared that he hates shrimp, hates steak, hates vegetables and doesn't like this restaurant either. I, literally, had never heard the word 'hate' spoken by him before.

So, um, yeah. We basically scarred him for life. He will never try a new food again without fearing for his life and now associates chicken soup with giant fireballs. We, as parents, learned such a good lesson tonight. There is serious truth in that old saying: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[hathor]

Disclaimer: I really believe the best way to stay sane as a parent is to keep your sense of humor. Please keep this in mind as you read the following.

Hokay, so armed with lots of good advice and intentions, we decided to take the kids to the Japanese Hibachi place last night in search of something different for them, to broaden their horizons.

5:30, Monday night, place is empty. We are shown to our grill/table at which point we explain carefully to the children (4 and 6) what is going to happen. The table is a stove, it's going to get really hot, the meal will be cooked in front of us, yadda yadda. Now, this isn't too much of a stretch, the kids love the Mongolian BBQ grill style place here in town and so they seem to understand. We order. My son, 4, says straight out he isn't interested in anything except grilled cheese or popcorn shrimp. Oh boy...

So we order him the shrimp (non-popcorn, but oh well). My daughter orders the filet mignon, which I know she will love. The choice of soup or salad with their meal is met with hesitation and then an order of the soup. Which they actually both eat and enjoy. Gee, we think, this was a good idea.

The chef arrives, tall funny toque, nice young hispanic guy (I know, I know... serious shortage of Japanese folks in the upper midwest). He proceeds to do his stchick, tossing knives and spatulas every which way. My son's eyes get HUGE and he very seriously warns the chef. "Be careful" We laugh, thinking this is cute. The vegetables come out. My son declares he doesn't like mushrooms. The chef makes a little tower with the onions, my son declares he doesn't like onions either. The chef fills the tower full of oil, pours quite a bit of another substance into it and then lights a match. WHOOMMMM, a giant fireball flies out of the tower right at us. Startled me, freaked my son out to no end. He was HOWLING, climbing up my leg. Holy shit. When we have done this before there was a polite little pflume of flame coming out of the top of the tower, not a rolling inferno.

At this point my son is in hysterics, in my lap crying. I am apologizing profusely to the chef and suggesting that maybe the pyro-technics shouldn't continue. Thank god the restaurant was still empty. Son finally calms down after about 5 minutes and many reassurances there will be no more fire. He makes it through the rest of the show, crying intermittently every time the chef makes a loud noise or tosses something his way. Eats half his bowl of rice, a few spoonfulls of soup, a bowl of orange sherbert and finally we manage to drag ourselves out of there. In the meantime my son has declared that he hates shrimp, hates steak, hates vegetables and doesn't like this restaurant either. I, literally, had never heard the word 'hate' spoken by him before.

So, um, yeah. We basically scarred him for life. He will never try a new food again without fearing for his life and now associates chicken soup with giant fireballs. We, as parents, learned such a good lesson tonight. There is serious truth in that old saying: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

While there may be a serious shortage of Japanese chefs... I sincerely hope there are plenty of psychiatrists! I'm sure this will go down in the oral family history books...

[Hiroyuki]

I'd say you just took your son to the wrong place. Better luck next time.

[stovetop]

I started cooking at 6, it was fun, kids are smart, they can do a lot more then us adults give them credit for, it developes self expresion and organisation, good skills for a kid to learn, knifes can be used, get them a small knife, work with them, communicate with them and ask how the knife feels, try different ones, keep the process simple and do not worry about the results, always praise them, have fun, great way to play with your children, geting them involved in the family meal is also very good for building the relationship, let it happen, and do not worry to much about the mess, kids are kids afterall, good for adults because we are just kids afterall.

stove

[saraimay75]

My apologies, NulloMod, for misinterpreting.

I know a young family, the husband of which does most of the cooking. When their son was still quite young, one or two, I was amazed at the 'strong' foods he not only ate, but relished: pasta puttanesca loaded with anchovies, for example. When I asked how they had managed it, the husband said: "he likes to hang out with me in the kitchen. He's in one arm, while I'm stirring the pot with the other; and so he gets excited about whatever excites his daddy."

I have a story very much like this. When I was about six or seven I was dining ate a fancy resturant with my parents. When the water came to take our orde, I ordred a salad w/ Bleu Cheese dressing. The watwer was suprised probaly thouth I was . But what I didn't know at the time was that my parent were attemptng to be vegitarins. So they ate a lot of salads. To make the salads appealing to my father my mother would make Bleu Chesse dressing.To this day I really like Bleu Chesse Dressing. And I have my paent to thank for that.

My parent never made a big deal about food or what I was eating. I think (for me) this was the key. Young chidren a very good at picking up non-verbal cues. If there is tesion around food and the children pick it up then they respond negitivly. Of course this is only a theory and since I don't have chidre I don't know if it is true.

[Pan]

That's quite a story, Cusina. I'd file it in the "shit happens" folder, but probably wouldn't give it that label to my children, if I had any.

Sounds like I might have been scared too - now.

[Yuki]

My parents made me try everything and there is no separate meal for the children. I do not like to eat eggplant since it made my tongue really itchy, and green vegetable because meat is better. My parents let me get away with the egg plants but green vegetable is mandatory for every meal. They would fill up the bowl with green vegetable after I finish with all the rice and meat. There is something different between food that provides necessary nutrients and other not so important food. Also my parents do not care if I do not eat the bitter melon, they say I could always eat other vegetables. There is always 4 dishes at the table (one soup, one meat/fish, one vegetable, and the last one could be tofu, combination of meat & vegetables, or another vegetables dish) so everyone could find something to eat.

My aunt grew up HATING fruits and vegetables, she could not even stand beside an orange. Grandma did nothing to change her diet and now as an adult, my aunt still hates fruits and vegetables. Her way to solve the problem is to take supplementary pills.

I remembered being force to eat oatmeal(boiled with water ), it took me 15min to finish one spoon. It was tasteless and the texture really bothered me. Eventually I told my mother and she changed the method of cooking oatmeal(now she uses milk and sugar). Not saying to force food down the child's throat but there are some food that the child must eat. Maybe try cooking the food in a different way. I am probably still too young to speak about teaching children about food.

[Enzian]

I'm replying to this thread before reading it, so... pardon me.

My second son is now 13 months. He doesn't talk, yet, or walk, yet, and he's only got 5 teeth in his tender, drooly head.

One of his favorite snacks are grape tomatoes cut into 3 or 4 slices.

Just yesterday I had just finished feeding him lunch and broke out the tomatoes to finish his appetite off. But, this time, I took some $7 balsamic vinegar, some virgin olive oil, some Ken's Steakhouse Italian salad dressing (very acidic, my favorite prepared salad dressing) and some mayonnaise.

I cut up a tomato and put a few drops of the Ken's on. He liked it very much and didn't even flinch at the acidity.

Next, a tomato with the olive oil. He didn't like it! I was surprised. I figured it would add a nice flavor and smoothness to the tomato. I think he liked the taste of the salad dressing, and was therefore his palatte was spoiled.

Next up: Balsamico. He absolutely loved it! I wound up giving him two tomatoes covered in the vinegar.

Lastly, I smeared a round with a little mayo. He ate it, unlike the olive oil one, but there was no enjoyment like the acidic tomatoes.

Then, I prepared five slices: Plain, and one with each of the condiments. Which did he prefer? The balsamic! He loved it!

---------

Whenever we have sliced lemons or limes around, we let him suck on them. Oddly, he recovers from his initial reaction fairly quickly and then sucks on them vigorously.

---------

He loves eggplant parmesan and has already eaten an entire stuffed artichoke! He recently ate a sundried tomato paste/sauce that was very acidic as a topping to some elbow macaroni. When he was real small, we fed him a lot of pastina with butter - but now he balks at it. Not enough flavor, I bet.

He's named after my father and my deceased paternal grandfather. I'm not a religous man, but I can't help but imagine that my baby is my grandfather, reincarnated, or something. Kinda lame, but, what can I say? I kinda like imagining it.

Edited May 26, 2004 by Enzian (log)

[John Whiting]

Cheap balsamic tends to be rather sweet. This could be a clue; sweetness is one of the tastes that doesn't have to be learned.

[TJHarris]

When I have children they will most certainly be exposed to a wide variety of foods.  I will not be one of these parents who will cook macaroni and cheese endlessly if they do not like what is for dinner.  They will either eat what is being served, or they will go hungry.  I am assuming the eating of what is served will eventually win over.

I'm sorry, but I had to laugh at this. I swore exactly the same thing about 7 years ago. Unfortunately my son has consumed roughly 20,000 grilled cheese sandwiches in his 4.5 years on the planet. He is such a bear when he is hungry. ( I swear he gets this from his father. )

I definitely was a much better parent before my kids were born.

How totally right on! If I did't know better, I would think I was married to Cusina. I hate to admit it, but the blue box is a staple in my house. My boy is the worst eater yet. My daughter, on the other hand, will try anything. She asked for artichokes for dinner on her fourth birthday! She enjoys stinky cheese and beets and onions and asparagus and all types of mushrooms and variety of olives and venison and quail and.....

I guess that I am batting .500 with them.

[nones]

I have had the absolute joy of cooking for and with my 7-year old niece since very nearly her first meal. It was discussed and decided, with my sister, that I would make all of her baby food and I was given carte blanche. I read any book I could get my hands on that had any relevance to feeding young children, their nutritional requirements or foods not recommended for young ages.

I set out roasting beets and blanching fresh peas. I cooked sweet potatoes, sauteed mushrooms and grilled asparagus. Anything that was fresh - I cooked, pureed, froze in ice cube trays and labeled in freezer bags. I took it seriously. It was so exciting to think I could be responsible for helping a little human come to love and appreciate food!

Often when I cooked for my extended family, I had her in a sling, watching. She always loved it and later on she would sit on the counter beside me while I cooked. These days, when I am there, she is an active participant in my cooking, often making viable suggestions and asking delightful questions. Unfortunately, I am living far away and we must make due with a couple of weeks each summer of cooking and foraging (and hunting for fairies).

She did, like all children, go through a finicky stage. But, it really only lasted a couple of months and now she is requesting chicken hearts on a whim (‘cause they look yummy) and ordering mussels whenever she sees them on a restaurant menu. I can see that she has a whole world of food in front of her and will spend her life in pursuit of a good meal. Not such a bad way to go through life……

[hathor]

Enzian: what great fun to do an experiment like that. My suggestion: repeat the same experience every few months. It would be great to see if the reactions are consistent, but I'm betting they change. Its so cool the way kids evolve.

[nan]

Add me to the list of those who swore before having children that their child(ren) would not eat the standard kid fare.

My son (almost 3) is a fairly adventurous eater - he likes mussels, shrimp, grapefruit juice - things I would not have expected him to like. He likes to sample the dried spices I use in whatever I happen to be cooking that day. He's even more enthusiastic to try new things when he has helped prepare it in some fashion.

That being said, he still would live on mac & cheese (no blue box, though - we buy some other brand - Annie's I think ? especially the single serving variety) and hot dogs, both of which he was exposed to outside of our house.

I am proud to say that his only exposure to fast food was during a long drive with the extended family. Of course, it helps that my husband is not a fan of fast food.

nan

[Behemoth]

On the other extreme, I can add a cautionary tale...

My sister in law's kid is about 13 now, and for the 6 years I've known him, absolutely refuses to eat anything that is not 1) nutella 2) mcdonalds 3) plain cheese pizza

I think of her as a pretty good mom overall but why this kid has been allowed to get away with this for so long is really beyond me...such a huge pain in the ass when they were visiting. He didn't even have to try anything, it was just "shrug, that's how he is, ha ha". He's really small for his age...

I can't help but wonder what kind of life this kid can have if he can't go anywhere that doesn't serve hamburgers. We would have invited him to visit us for a couple of months (and I know he's keen on spending a summer in the U.S.) but the idea of having to hunt down McD'S or whatever every day or have him starve to death is just too much to take on. Nothing he was offered at the last visit was even that weird -- like, grilled chicken and french bread. Ugh. And while I guess we could do the "you can visit but you have to eat what we have" thing but frankly I don't feel like cajoling someone to eat my cooking.

(edited for spelling)

Edited May 26, 2004 by Behemoth (log)