Picky Inherited?
October 26, 2007 by John
Filed under Family Activities, Past Contests
Today the Parent Bloggers Network is discussing picky eaters to help promote the publication of Deceptively Delicious, a cookbook with recipes for hiding healthy food in meals your kids will like eating.
As a kid I was a notoriously picky eater. The family joke was that I wouldn’t eat anything green. In truth it was the texture of most veggies that made me gag and I soon was very stubborn and unwilling to try new things. It wasn’t until I was much older that I finally got adventuresome, but I’m still not the greatest eater.
All those nights of tormenting my parents with a battle of wills over a pile of peas and sneaking brussel sprouts onto other people’s plates is coming back to haunt me now because Ethan is proving to be just as picky as I was. What is interesting is that he was not picky when he was younger. He readily ate peas, avacado, and other veggies with delight, but now he is just like I was and will gag and make a huge fuss over eating a single pea. Meanwhile Ben will eat just about anything and a lot of it. I swear that kid would eat a whole cantaloupe if we let him.
We’ve done nothing different between the two it just seems to be their inherited personality. Ethan definitely has my eating habits and Ben has Heather’s. Given my intimate knowledge of being picky I realize that battling Ethan head on will not work. With that in mind I decided to tackle the problem at the grocery store.
During our last trip to Wegmans, Ben wanted to ride in Heather’s cart with Jamie so Ethan and I set off on a mission: find things he would like to eat. My first question for him was to name his three favorite foods. He responded with chicken, toast, and fish. I described some different food combinations that I like and we decided to try something Ethan used to love when he was little - smoked salmon on a bagel. Ethan helped me pick everything out and the next night we had our meal. Ethan tried the salmon without any problems…and didn’t really like it. Ben, of course, thought it was great and at all his salmon along with Ethan’s. Well, I consider it a victory that I got Mr “I don’t like new things” to try something. An added benefit is that he told me he likes “big fish” like the one he caught this summer. I told him our next trip we’ll pick something out from the seafood section and he can help me cook.
My philosophy in all this is that there is no magic spell to get your kids eating the right foods. I think it is more important to get them willing to try new things and let them take part in the food selection. Of course, my optimism might change after a few more trips to the grocery store, but I think in the end we’ll get Ethan liking a few more new things and dinner will become less of a battle and more of an adventure.
[...] Picky Inherited? [...]
I have 3 sons ages 17 14 and 12. My two oldest are not really that picky and will eat just about anything you put in front of them. My 12 year old is another story. First he will not eat off or or drink out of anything that has not first been washed in hot soapy water, and if he dosnt do it himself he has to watch you do it for him, it doest matter if the dish or glass was just washed 2 minutes prior to him using it. Next is what he eats and that is very limited. Spaghetti is his favorite, but if the noodles are too soft, he wont touch it. He will not eat most things I make for supper. When he eats tacos, he only eats the shell and meat, no cheese, nothing. Oh and onions are the biggest NO that he has, if he sees even one in whatever he is eating, he ill put his dish down and refuse to eat the rest of it. He will only eat, Banquet Fish Stick Meals, or hot pockets. He only eats one kind of cereal and that is Healthy Start. When I make hamburgers, it must be on a hamburger bun (no bread for a substitute) and he will not touch a hot dog. The only kind of koolaid he drinks is lemonade and will go thristy if there is another flavor made. He does not eat at school because he says they dont give him enuff to eat and its all nasty food. He will not touch sloppy joes, or macaroni and cheese. He is so picky that when I go grocery shopping I have to wait until he gets out of school in order to go to the grocery store so that he cn go with me so I dont make huge mistakes and buy what he wont eat. His appetite and tastes change each week. Some of the things he ate the most of the week before he wont touch the next week. I’ve tried the bit of “either you eat what we eat or you’ll go hungry” and well I’m so scared he will go hungry that I do allow him to pick out his own food and eat what he wants, and he is a small child, even tho the dr says he is right at his proper height and weight for his age, I tend to think he is a lil smaller then normal. He is as thin as a toothpick but he eats like a horse, and when he pass a McDonalds and I’ve got cash on me, he starts the I’m starvign bit, so I’ll stop in at the McDonalds and he will go in and order his own meal. The 6 piece nuggets with fries and drink supersized and a McFlurry with extra toppings. When hes done with that, he then proceedes to tell me he is still hungery and If i ate like that I’d be stuffed for 2 days.. I let him order all that he wants I never want to see or hear him say Im hungry and whatever extra he orders he eats all of that too. I have seen him eat a six piece chic nugget fries and drink supersized and order a extra 20 nuggets and sit down and eat every bite. I think to myself, if I could eat like that and be thin like he is that would be a miracle.. but sometimes I think even me looking at food makes me gain weight..
I posted about just this issue a few weeks ago at my new blogging site:
http://ourfamilyvillage.com/have-a-picky-eater-it-your-fault/