Picky Eaters

I used to fret over this whole feeding dilemma and “feed what you eat” camp vs. “make special food for kids” camp arguments did NOT help. I was a picky eater… but being forced to eat certain foods for which I hadn’t developed a taste gave me so much stress as a kid at each meal time. You know what? I hated kimchi as a little kid. I developed a taste for it once we moved from Korea to Bangladesh and it was only available once in a while… and my parents stopped forcing me to eat it. I’ve always loved spinach. LN does too, as long as it’s made a certain way.

Point is… Yes, I am envious of those parents who have kids who will eat just about anything. I have accepted the fact that LN might be like me and have maybe texture or strong flavor aversions. So I just introduce certain aversion foods now and then, let her take her time getting over whatever it is, and she’s come a long way.

However, in order to make sure she eats nutrious and balanced meals, I’ve had to work around her tastebuds and aversions as far as making meals. She doesn’t eat anything that I would deem not delicious (since I’ve gotten over MY picky eating habits) and we eat the things that she would eat.

There was a controversy over “hiding” certain ingredients for your kids to eat. I don’t understand why all these sanctimonious parents got pissed off. Perhaps because they don’t understand how tastebuds develop but wanted to exercise their right to judge other parents?

So far, what I chose to do with MY daughter has worked. She loves Tandoori chicken as much as she loves buffalo wings (mild sauce). She loves tofu in a Korean chigae. She will eat kalbi but not bbq ribs. She will eat vegetable sides made Korean style but won’t eat steamed plain vegetables. The other day, she realized that she didn’t really mind carrots anymore.

She does eat a variety of foods. She just won’t eat anything and everything you might put in front of her. I don’t think of it as a personality disorder - but just a process of growing.

Sure, LN is a picky eater - but she doesn’t eat junk food. And she’s never stressed out coming to the dinner table. She knows that each food item is there for her to try and see if she likes it - not for her to be forced into submission. I am confident that, like me, she will develop a taste for a wider range of foods as long as she is exposed to different things continuously.

(Phew! I guess I did have a lot to say about this.)

[...] with the music and culture that young people listen to today. More often, I deal with problems like getting my children to eat or teaching kids empathy. And the sleep…what sleep? I get six hours a night if I’m [...]