4 comments

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  BigDaddy

  2 years ago

  What exactly are the pro\'s to catering to a picky eater? Then tell me what cons are having your child eat a varied diet. I\'m giddy with anticipation.
  
  Just to lay it out, I don\'t \"torture\" my children with food. Funny what passes for torture these days. If gagging down a brussel sprout is the worst thing that happens to my child, then I will die a happy man. I do require my children to eat what is cooked for dinner. I do keep in mind their likes and dislikes but no more so than I do for my wife and myself. Everyone will have to eat something that is not their favorite at some point which includes me, the cook. The requirement is that you eat a portion. You don\'t have to heap it on or get seconds but you have to eat it.
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  wahoodad

  2 years ago

  1. It\'s very late when we write some of these articles, and at 1:00AM I forgot to take out the line in the article that reads \"There are pros and cons to both sides of the argument...\" To answer your questions anyway (as you are giddy with anticipation), the only pro to catering to a picky eater that I can think of is the elimination of daily mealtime battles with said picky eater. I see no cons to your child eating a varied diet.
  
  2. The term \"torture\" in paragraph two isn\'t meant in a literal sense, but rather as a tongue-in-cheek hyperbole to convey how some overdramatic children react when they are compelled by a parent to remain at a table until they eat what\'s in front of them, e.g. Ralphie\'s brother Randy in \"A Christmas Story\".
  Additionally, in the first paragraph, I didn\'t mean for readers to be confused by my description of what happens when a kid eats too many chicken nuggets and too much applesauce. Just to be clear, I\'ve neither seen a child grow feathers, nor have I witnessed whole Granny Smith apples in lieu of feces in a dirty diaper.
  
  3. You propose an excellent strategy for tackling this dilemma. It is both fair and rational, and I think it is a good example of how parents of a picky eater might get their kid to try more foods--especially if the grownups are sometimes eating things that aren\'t their favorite. Oftentimes the parents cook what THEY want and expect the kids to eat it without complaint. An extension of this strategy might be to alternate who chooses what\'s for dinner, as long as everyone agrees to eat what\'s served on the days someone other than them chooses.
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  BigDaddy

  2 years ago

  I didn\'t mean for you to have to define the context of your comments, my sarcasm was directed at those who actually do think they are hurting their children. More likely doing what\'s easiest for them.
  
  I treat it as a behavior problem. It wasn\'t as much about eating as it was about who was in charge. That is not to say that you force everything down their throat, it not just about the food. It\'s teaching the difference between a request and a demand.
  
  Mine are teens now and around 10 or 11 I started teaching them to cook. The requirement is one night a week. They can prepare whatever they want as long as there is variety and they are making an effort to learn new things.
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  Mrs. Noodad

  2 years ago

  Our solution for our finicky 4.5 year old daughter was to implement the rule that at every meal she has to have a fruit or vegetable of her choice first. It also had to be a different fruit or vegetable for breakfast, lunch and dinner. She\'d honestly eat only applesauce at all three meals if we let her. Anyway, if she doesn\'t eat the serving of fruit of vegetable, she doesn\'t get anything else for the meal. Why have we gone to such lengths? Because if she skips even one meal\'s serving of a fruit or vegetable the poor thing is constipated for days. Her system is that sensitive, so it\'s a must for us to enforce.
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