Inspired by "No more soda in schools" thread..

[KimR]

My older 2 DDs were went through a picky stage, but I didn't cater to them. I took their tastes into consideration when making meals, but they weren't allowed to live on chicken fingers and pizza either. Luckily, they liked enough foods that it wasn't too much of a problem. Now, though, they have outgrown the picky phase and eat a wide variety of foods.

No my youngest takes picky eating to a whole new level. There are few foods other than junk food that she will eat. She likes fruits, some vegetables, pasta, cereal and yogurt but that is about it. Furthermore, her tastes change from day-to-day so out of the blue she will stop eating certain foods. She no longer eats pizza, which used to be one of her favorites. This is not learned behavior - she has been this way since she was 6 months old. Even as a baby, she refused to eat - she had nothing but breast milk for the first year or so. It's really bizarre and while I certainly can't let her eat nothing but junk food all the time, I'm ont going to force-feed her either. So, for now the rule is she either eats well or no junk food. I feel like a 'mean mommy' when the other kids get treats and she doesn't but I don't know what else to do.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

yes and no.
My 15 year old is a Vegetarian, which I thought was probably just a phase but he has stuck with it for nearly 6 months now. I do occassionaly modify for him and I also keep a supply of Veggie Burgers and other stuff in the freezer. Often, he'll cook his own meal or just pick the meat out of what we are eating.

Tonight I made stir fry vegetables and chicken and I made his seperate with no meat.

Also, I'm the only person in the family that likes Mexican food. Often, I'll make myself something like Chicken Quesadillas and I'll fix everybody else broiled chicken or something else -- but since I"m the cook I get to do that.

 

[chobie]

My ds will eat or try anything. My dd is the picky one. To say she is picky doesn't mean she eats junk food or unhealthy food, just certain items she doesn't like and I will not force her. I figure she'll try different things on her own eventually. I do prepare dd different meals when the rest of us eat a dish she doesn't care for. That isn't a big deal to me.

It's the same in my family. My DD will eat most things, but my DS is picky and yes I "cater" to him. It's not a big deal for me because most of the things he eats are easy to fix and as long as he's getting a balanced diet...I don't see they need to turn meal time into a battle. He is starting to try new things now, mostly when we at other people's houses, and I encourage that without forcing it.

Besides, my DH and I tend to have more exotic and gourmet tastes and we tend to eat a lot of spicy things. Of course I wouldn't force that on my kids, but neither would I give it up just so I can say that my kids eat what I put on the table.

Like absolutely anything to do with parenting this topic will bring out the dogmatic and uncompromising, "its your job as parent", fingerpointing, holier-than-thou proclimations.

 

[Feralpeg]

We eat out 90 percent of the time, so it isn't an issue. At DD's school, they offer a number of different items. They can have soda if they want. It is a private school, so they can offer whatever.

 

[TreslovesWDW]

I like that my kids have a healthy school lunch.I have went to school and ate lunch with them and it is good.They have pudding or ice cream once in awhile.Mostly apple sauce,fruit slices,or veggie slices come with the lunch.There is no soda,chips or cakes.It is nice to know they are not getting all junk food for lunch.They get that stuff at home sometimes.I don't cut out those things only because I don't want them to crave these foods or have to sneak them and over eat junk.I have 4 kids and I do make them try whatever I make for a meal.I only make them something else to eat if they try it first and don't like it.All 6 of us have different taste,I guess it is good to be the one who cooks I always make what I like...hehe....just kidding

 

[georgina]

Do you feed your children only what they "want"? I'm always amazed when the subject of school lunches and such come up and people state that if the foods offered were healthier, then their kids wouldn't eat them..

My answer to that is, "So what?" A child won't drop dead from skipping lunch and sooner or later they're going to realize that there's something there that they would be willing to eat if nothing else were available..

Same thing with dinner discussions.. While I wouldn't force a child to eat something like liver - I don't think it's unreasonable to expect your child to eat whatever the rest of the family is having - unless it's something that truly makes them gag (like liver - LOL)..

I also don't think it's unreasonable to insist that a child at least "try" a few bites of something as opposed to them making a face and saying, "I don't like that" when in fact they have never tried it..

If either myself or my children had been allowed to eat "only" what we "wanted" I'm pretty sure that somewhere down the road it would have had an impact on our health - either with weight issues or lack of essential nutrients..

So what do you do as a parent? And what would you do if the school lunches miraculously became healthy and your child insisted on not eating them?

I was a picky eater; still am. My kids take their lunches most days because they don't like a lot of what is served at school. If they don't like what we are having for dinner, they are free to have a sandwich or bowl of cereal for dinner. My mom was one of those 'eat what she made or starve' types, I hated it. I would never do that to my kids because I understand just not liking things. I ate more things as I got older and I expect my kids will too.

 

[castleview]

We make one meal. Although, if we're having anything like pasta in garlic and olive oil, I'll separate the girls pasta while my son eats anything. I admit for breakfast they have a choice of eggs, toast, or cereal.

I leave plenty of fruits for them to snack on. While I don't like them having junk food, I don't deny that either (although there is a limit). It's there and I try not to make an issue of it. I grew up in a house where food intake was rigidly controlled (cold cereal for breakfast; sandwich for lunch; dinner with meat, starch and vegetable...and if you ate anthing in between - you were a horrible person) so I don't want my kids to have a complex about food.

While I haven't hit the lunchroom yet, my kindergartener varies in snacks. Some days it's apple sauce, some days granola bar, some days crackers, yesterday was actually a cup of blueberries!

 

[scubamouse]

It's the same in my family. My DD will eat most things, but my DS is picky and yes I "cater" to him. It's not a big deal for me because most of the things he eats are easy to fix and as long as he's getting a balanced diet...I don't see they need to turn meal time into a battle. He is starting to try new things now, mostly when we at other people's houses, and I encourage that without forcing it.

Besides, my DH and I tend to have more exotic and gourmet tastes and we tend to eat a lot of spicy things. Of course I wouldn't force that on my kids, but neither would I give it up just so I can say that my kids eat what I put on the table.

Like absolutely anything to do with parenting this topic will bring out the dogmatic and uncompromising, "its your job as parent", fingerpointing, holier-than-thou proclimations.

Do you live at our house? seriously we're the same way.

Anything our kids get at school is actually less healthy than they eat/bring from home. But we're buy as much organic trader joe's people DS is picky because he has some mild oral sensory issues (mashed potatoes make him gag) not because he's spoiled.

 

[liamandcaili]

My DS has an egg allergy and never buys school lunch because they never provided me with ingredient lists. That's okay though...he really only likes PB+J for lunch (I do buy the organic PB, my mom makes the J, and it's on a whole grain bread...is that OK?)

As for dinner, I make one meal. I will alter things, such as not putting spices or herbs into the children's portions. I do give them mac and cheese, but I make it from scratch, and DS likes his best with broccoli in it. I can't take credit for this...another mother told me that she has always included vegetables in her children's mac and cheese so they just think that is how it comes. In fact, they are confused when they order it in restaurants and there is no broccoli, peas, etc.

DD can be picky...she would rather not eat than eat something she does not want...but one of her favorite meals is baked haddock. She hates chicken fingers and pizza.

I usually just make sure that there is one thing on the plate that the children like and they usually will eat some of whatever else is there. If they don't, that's okay, but I don't give them anything else either.