Yes, I admit I was a picky eater. When I was a child I didn't like eating and I hated meal times. My parents were always after me to eat. I swore that when I was a parent I would leave my child alone. For the most part, I did. They didn't have to eat what they didn't want BUT they couldn't have dessert. I hope I made my kids' mealtimes pleasant.
Today, I was sorting through some old magazines to see which ones to keep and which ones to toss. In allrecipes, February/March 2014 edition, an article on "Why kids are picky eaters (and why it's no big whoop) caught my attention. The author attests that nature makes young children be picky about what they eat. Afterall, in caveman days fear of different food was necessary or children would be eating poisonous berries and other dangerous things.
My three kids from age 2-5 subsisted basically on one food:
the oldest was cottage cheese (plain!)
the middle hardly ate at all
the youngest only ate Cambell's cream of potato soup (and I always had a hard time finding it)
My grandchildren's favorite is McDonald's Chicken McNuggets.
One more story about myself. As a child, I wouldn't eat asparagus for all the tea in China. Once when I was a teenager, I was eating supper at my friend's house. The green beans they served were different. They were kind of mushy and tasted different, but they were good. I complimented the cooking and said "I particularly liked the green beans. They were tasty."
Everybody burst out laughing--at me!
You guessed it. They were asparagus, not green beans. As the article stated, "Children become more adventurous eaters at their own pace."
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Today, I was sorting through some old magazines to see which ones to keep and which ones to toss. In allrecipes, February/March 2014 edition, an article on "Why kids are picky eaters (and why it's no big whoop) caught my attention. The author attests that nature makes young children be picky about what they eat. Afterall, in caveman days fear of different food was necessary or children would be eating poisonous berries and other dangerous things.
My three kids from age 2-5 subsisted basically on one food:
the oldest was cottage cheese (plain!)
the middle hardly ate at all
the youngest only ate Cambell's cream of potato soup (and I always had a hard time finding it)
My grandchildren's favorite is McDonald's Chicken McNuggets.
One more story about myself. As a child, I wouldn't eat asparagus for all the tea in China. Once when I was a teenager, I was eating supper at my friend's house. The green beans they served were different. They were kind of mushy and tasted different, but they were good. I complimented the cooking and said "I particularly liked the green beans. They were tasty."
Everybody burst out laughing--at me!
You guessed it. They were asparagus, not green beans. As the article stated, "Children become more adventurous eaters at their own pace."
