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| She actually ate a bug!!! Naomi did!!! |
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| Kalina and a box turtle we caught. The turtle liked strawberries and was named Banana Bump. |
And so, ever since Kalina was first dining on solids, it's been my goal to try not to hook my kids on junk--too much, anyway. It's my gift to them.
The gift they'd prefer: an all-access pass to the chocolate stash they:
1. Know I have, and usually even its location
2. Can virtually never catch me at
3. Smell on my breath once in a great while ("Mommy, why do you smell like chocolate?" Me: "Mommies often do.")
4. Know they must never, ever mention, from experience
And it's not hypocritical, because I only want the best for them. Don't worry about me, my chocolate and I will be just fine together.
So while other toddlers relished Goldfish crackers, Teddy Grahams, Veggie Straws, and other snacky non-foods in their no-spill snack cups, young Kalina fished out cold, limp steamed broccoli, chopped chicken and her favorite--cold buttered lima beans. Plus the occasional sliced grapes or Cheerios. It just made sense to me, and she didn't complain.
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| All ice cream, all the time!! At least, that's how it should be! |
Gradually, though, as Kalina's tastes matured (and honestly, I'd be worried if she still liked cold, limp broccoli--although she does still dive into a pile of lima beans with relish), Goldfish admittedly became a staple. They still are. Even Matt commented the other day on how tasty those little fish are, and chili just isn't the same without them.
Once we'd passed the snack-cup-full-of-veggies stage, though, Kalina's older-toddler pickiness lasted for, um, quite a while. In fact, while her appetite has picked up and she has her moments of trying new things and liking them (spinach and onion quiche, for instance, and borscht) she often avoids meat and veggies like she's been doing it all her life. Which she practically has.
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| We like suckers so much, we tape them on! Convenience food! |
Elise, on the other hand, spent years as a virtual fruititarian. Yet now she's the most likely to try, and the most likely to try to like, new foods, even though that usually translates merely into two bites instead of one. For example, I once gave toddler Elise a piece of raw onion I was chopping up, and she came back for more. Tonight: "I bet I'll try pickled watermelon rind someday." And she'll happily and adventurously eat various pickled fish out of a can with Matt (so will Kalina, sometimes). Despite her good intentions, however, the fruit and bread vanish quickly off her plate, leaving her shivering, neglected pork chop and green beans behind.
Naomi was the baby who could separate diced tomato from diced strawberry (even the inner, seedless parts of the strawberry!!) before she turned 1--and of course, ate only the strawberry, leaving the tomato in a neat little pile.
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| Here's the pack of bugs! She declined a cricket, but Matt ate one. |
And yet, this relentless avoider of foods recently tried chocolate-covered insect larvae thanks to a bug class she's taking, and is now asking to test "sea urchin meat," even though she's "a little scared," and she'd like to have a rock to break it open sea-otter style. Next time we're in Malaysia, or wherever they eat that, we'll certainly try to make it happen.
Rice, though--she couldn't possibly try. And definitely not chicken unless it's coated in whatever McDonald's uses as a bribe. Pasta? Only on full moons in February--but she does eat about the equivalent of a helping a year. Oranges only sell in October since we haven't had them since last October. And most normal dinners? Most nights she'll permit a small portion to live on her plate, as long as she doesn't have to touch it.
All this to say, my kids are picky, but there are glimpses of hope.
Sometimes I don't realize how picky they are until a whole class of kids cheers at the mention of Chipotle, while Kalina shrugs. Amazingly delicious burrito? No, thank-you. Hmmm. Reality check--are they even pickier than I thought?!?
But I have to survive somehow, so lately, instead of my usual gentle pushing that masks the freaking out that's going on in my head ("It's chicken noodle soup! How can you not like this most benign of all foods!!! Everyone else in the whole world loves it!!!"), I reframe the whole thing. Because isn't taste, like sight and hearing, a sense? And don't we praise artists and musicians for their discriminating taste? Isn't this how master chefs get started?
Picky eating rebranded:
Isn't it amazing how my child can sense the slightest change in taco seasoning? And pick out every single piece of chopped black bean? How incredibly tuned in she must be!
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| Elise told me she would've been okay with constructive criticism on her original cupcake recipe. She admitted she "didn't like them that much." She agrees that recipe 3.0 is quite a bit better. |
My child can identify the absolute perfect range of ripeness in a banana--no brown, and if anything a touch green. She could do it with her eyes closed.
The spices and seasonings in this dish overwhelm their ultra-sensitive taste receptors! Talk about astute!!!
The spices and seasonings in this dish overwhelm their ultra-sensitive taste receptors! Talk about astute!!!
She's discovered that the ideal combination is smooth and strawberry. Everything else simply insults her senses!
They can all taste green vegetables' subtle bitterness--only a select few can detect these notes!
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| We would rather be food than eat real food! |
It takes truly sensitive taste to distinguish between homemade mac and cheese with the exact right amount of cheese, and homemade mac and cheese with slightly less cheese! And two out of three noticed it! Truly astonishing how perceptive they are!
The children prefer fruit that's at the peak of ripeness--they can detect subtle notes of differences that most people simply ignore!
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| A relatively clean plate, but look at that eye-roll! |
Only the most delicate meats will do--no true gourmand puts up with chewiness, after all!
Naturally, milk that sits in a cup in the fridge can accumulate other flavors. Most kids don't notice this, but mine are so astute, they simply can't stand anything less than fresh-from-the-jug milk!
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I could go on. But really, there's got to be some talent here right?? Can I at least brag on Facebook?
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