Never Eat the Same Thing Twice
Remember that old advice for getting your kids to expand their palates--"keep on trying, make the same recipe over and over and eventually they may grow to like it." I'm not really quoting any one source but if you have toddlers it's likely you've read this gem in more than one "raising kids' Bibles".
My kids have never, never eaten the same dish twice. No matter how much they claim to like it the first time around. "Oh, this is good," Kid 1 will say with just a pinch of surprise in her voice. "Should I make it again?" I ask. (I should say I "used to ask") "No, that's okay," is the reply. Kid 2 will rarely even try a new recipe. "That's okay, I can tell I won't like it."
I blame it on the Internet Boom. Back in the time of the Boom, we ate at restaurants constantly. Nice restaurants and we took Kid 1 most of the time. You can do that on the West Coast and no one shoots you dagger looks. During those formative years she supped on escargot, beet goulash, bruschetta, calamari and anything with shrimp. They were both used to perusing a fat menu with many choices or just a few choices--e.g. they both like lobster ravioli. She also likes oysters and caviar. (To me, both soft-shell crab and oysters taste like wet, muddy sweat socks.) Yet, even a few years ago she would go to a friends' house and eat a pound or so of pasta with butter and cheese. "Wow, she ate three bowls of pasta!", the other mom would tell me. I would think "ah-ha!" and ask if she'd like pasta for dinner the next day. "Nah, not unless it's Kraft Macaroni and Cheese," she would say.
A real mom with a real family asked me not too long ago about my kids' eating habits. Moms are always curious about this subject. (It's like the subject of labor when your kids are babies. A group of moms would start trading labor tales and I would sit silently. They were all of the "bet you can't top this for pain!" Kind of like men trading golf stories. I never did labor so I had nothing to contribute. Saying "wow, you really think that suffering for days through natural childbirth will make you a better mother? What a crock."
To the question, "what do your kids eat?", once again I have nothing to contribute. They don't. I haven't cooked dinner in years except for tacos every two weeks. And shrimp--both kids will eat steamed shrimp but neither will help peel them ahead of the sautee pan. But mostly my son eats Honey Nut Cheerios and my daughter eats vegetarian thingies like chick pea patties and lentils and of course, Honey Nut Cheerios. It will be another cereal soon. I can smell change in the air. I'm making Vegetable Minestrone today or tomorrow. I predict that Kid 1 will eat it at least once....
My kids have never, never eaten the same dish twice. No matter how much they claim to like it the first time around. "Oh, this is good," Kid 1 will say with just a pinch of surprise in her voice. "Should I make it again?" I ask. (I should say I "used to ask") "No, that's okay," is the reply. Kid 2 will rarely even try a new recipe. "That's okay, I can tell I won't like it."
I blame it on the Internet Boom. Back in the time of the Boom, we ate at restaurants constantly. Nice restaurants and we took Kid 1 most of the time. You can do that on the West Coast and no one shoots you dagger looks. During those formative years she supped on escargot, beet goulash, bruschetta, calamari and anything with shrimp. They were both used to perusing a fat menu with many choices or just a few choices--e.g. they both like lobster ravioli. She also likes oysters and caviar. (To me, both soft-shell crab and oysters taste like wet, muddy sweat socks.) Yet, even a few years ago she would go to a friends' house and eat a pound or so of pasta with butter and cheese. "Wow, she ate three bowls of pasta!", the other mom would tell me. I would think "ah-ha!" and ask if she'd like pasta for dinner the next day. "Nah, not unless it's Kraft Macaroni and Cheese," she would say.
A real mom with a real family asked me not too long ago about my kids' eating habits. Moms are always curious about this subject. (It's like the subject of labor when your kids are babies. A group of moms would start trading labor tales and I would sit silently. They were all of the "bet you can't top this for pain!" Kind of like men trading golf stories. I never did labor so I had nothing to contribute. Saying "wow, you really think that suffering for days through natural childbirth will make you a better mother? What a crock."
To the question, "what do your kids eat?", once again I have nothing to contribute. They don't. I haven't cooked dinner in years except for tacos every two weeks. And shrimp--both kids will eat steamed shrimp but neither will help peel them ahead of the sautee pan. But mostly my son eats Honey Nut Cheerios and my daughter eats vegetarian thingies like chick pea patties and lentils and of course, Honey Nut Cheerios. It will be another cereal soon. I can smell change in the air. I'm making Vegetable Minestrone today or tomorrow. I predict that Kid 1 will eat it at least once....
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