Those were my options as a picky kid and even as a picky adult with my parents. Sometimes i go to a family meal and just eat a few polite bites of whatever dish i can stand the most. I promise, if you get hungry enough, most things end up tasting better.
Growing up, we didn't have the options that are readily available today. Chicken Nuggets? hahahah.. never heard of them. We ate real food. And don't get me wrong.. we didn't love every thing.. and occasionally we got a PBJ replacement.. but mom was not short order cooking for us. We ate what was prepared.. .and my mom wasn't a jerk.. so didn't constantly force food we hated on us...
We also traveled internationally.. at a time where the golden arches didn't have such a strong global presence.. and we ate a lot of local stuff.. even if it was "weird" to us... we had to try one bite.. real bite.. and if we didn't like it.. we could go without.. or just eat the rice.. but we had to give it an honest chance.
While we were/are blessed that mom is a culinary savant who did incredible things in the kitchen, not everthing was somethign we liked. My personal food Kryptonite was Tuna Casserole which to this day I will avoid if at all possible, and zuccinni. I had a gag reflex with zuccinni. Fortunately with Tuna Casserole and also with zuccinni I was observant and watched my dad cover the casserole with whatever sauce he could find to cover the flavors. With zuccinni I saw him cut his seving into miniscule chunkns and add it to the bites of the other food mom prepared for that meal. Mushrooms are my dad's food Kryptonite. Back in the day when they were raising their boys, dad would camoflage the mushrooms in sauce, and burried micro cuts in other bites.
I am fortunate. Growing up as a 3CK diverse food was a bug part of life. There is not much I do not like. Though there have been a few things that I struggled with. One was attending a kabsa with my dad who was the guest of honor. As his son, in 50+ year ago tribal Arab culture I was something special. I got the sheep's eye. Dad gave me the telepathic message when they handed me the eyeball that I had to eat it. Being a fairly young kid swalling a large eyeball whole was not happening. So I bit it. That returned raucus clapping and laughs from the Arab men present. It sprayed all over my face and everyone else around the large kabsa tray. A kabsa was a 3-4ft diameter tray with a massive pile of rice and veg topped by a whole cooked goat or sheep. A large group of men and boys sat around it eating with their hands. The women/girls had their own kabsa tray and sat separately.
Anyway, I pretty much eat everything. However, I have managed to avoid the honor of the eyeball at a kabsa since I was a kid.
My household too. Eat whatever is made. We never asked "what dinner was going to be".
My pet peeve is kids that ask what dinner is going to be.. Only to complain or ask for something different. I wouldn't have allowed that with my kids. I have lucked out with my kids
Sounds like what i used to do with my kids. For drinks, for example, i would give them a choice of 2 things i knew they liked. "Do you want milk or orange juice?" Kid: "I want Kool-Aid!!" "Do you want milk, orange juice, or nothing?" Kid: "Kool-Aid!!" "Ok, so nothing."
I see way to many parents handing their kids power by allowing negotiations. If you offer a kid a small choice. they will quicklly learn that if they don't pick A or B.. the default will be "none of the above".. and they will go without. Only has to happen a couple times before the talk back requests go away.
And.. I think parents should make some effort to not serve a food to their kids that their kid HATES.. but the hatred must be rooted in actual experience.. as in they have tried it several times and it is still unfavored. But, if broccoli is their bad food.. the family can still have it as a side dish.. there will normally be other items that the kid can fill up on.
My mom also tried to do things fairly.. I did not like turkey.. so she would often have a small ham at thanksgiving along with the bird.. and we would have prime rib for Christmas.. not turkey..
Fortunately, our family was pretty good about eating most stuff she brought out.. she was a good cook. and we had a lot of experiences with foreign foods... and my parents didn't fight with us about food.. though we knew the rule of trying the "new item"
When I was a kid and Mum was out of inspiration, she would ask me and my brother what we wanted for supper. Being a foodie, I would mull over the possibilities which wasted valuable time. That's how,we came to eat cheeseburgers and/or Campbell's tomato soup with croutons so often. I never learned from this mistake.
During childhood I do not recall being asked even once what we wanted for a meal except for birthdays. That did not start until I left for boarding school at 15 and then when my brother left for boarding school at 17. When we came home for winter, spring, or summer break mom would ask what we wanted her to make during the break. She always did a few of out requested favorites. Now when we visit mom and dad or they visit us, mom will ask what we want. Mainly we try to pre-plan meals so we can cook or we pre-plan reservations at nice restaurants to keep mom as far away from a kitchen as possible so she does not do her usual countless hours of cooking.
That’s how it was with me
When I was young. Except dinner time was 5:30 pm
Me too Harry. Dinner was at
Me too Harry. Dinner was at the same time every evening and we ate what was prepared. End of discussion.
I posted this more for dealing with kids than for dealing with SOs.
Those were my options as a
Those were my options as a picky kid and even as a picky adult with my parents. Sometimes i go to a family meal and just eat a few polite bites of whatever dish i can stand the most. I promise, if you get hungry enough, most things end up tasting better.
Growing up, we didn't have
Growing up, we didn't have the options that are readily available today. Chicken Nuggets? hahahah.. never heard of them. We ate real food. And don't get me wrong.. we didn't love every thing.. and occasionally we got a PBJ replacement.. but mom was not short order cooking for us. We ate what was prepared.. .and my mom wasn't a jerk.. so didn't constantly force food we hated on us...
We also traveled internationally.. at a time where the golden arches didn't have such a strong global presence.. and we ate a lot of local stuff.. even if it was "weird" to us... we had to try one bite.. real bite.. and if we didn't like it.. we could go without.. or just eat the rice.. but we had to give it an honest chance.
Lol. Me too!
While we were/are blessed that mom is a culinary savant who did incredible things in the kitchen, not everthing was somethign we liked. My personal food Kryptonite was Tuna Casserole which to this day I will avoid if at all possible, and zuccinni. I had a gag reflex with zuccinni. Fortunately with Tuna Casserole and also with zuccinni I was observant and watched my dad cover the casserole with whatever sauce he could find to cover the flavors. With zuccinni I saw him cut his seving into miniscule chunkns and add it to the bites of the other food mom prepared for that meal. Mushrooms are my dad's food Kryptonite. Back in the day when they were raising their boys, dad would camoflage the mushrooms in sauce, and burried micro cuts in other bites.
I am fortunate. Growing up as a 3CK diverse food was a bug part of life. There is not much I do not like. Though there have been a few things that I struggled with. One was attending a kabsa with my dad who was the guest of honor. As his son, in 50+ year ago tribal Arab culture I was something special. I got the sheep's eye. Dad gave me the telepathic message when they handed me the eyeball that I had to eat it. Being a fairly young kid swalling a large eyeball whole was not happening. So I bit it. That returned raucus clapping and laughs from the Arab men present. It sprayed all over my face and everyone else around the large kabsa tray. A kabsa was a 3-4ft diameter tray with a massive pile of rice and veg topped by a whole cooked goat or sheep. A large group of men and boys sat around it eating with their hands. The women/girls had their own kabsa tray and sat separately.
Anyway, I pretty much eat everything. However, I have managed to avoid the honor of the eyeball at a kabsa since I was a kid.
My household too. Eat
My household too. Eat whatever is made. We never asked "what dinner was going to be".
My pet peeve is kids that ask what dinner is going to be.. Only to complain or ask for something different. I wouldn't have allowed that with my kids. I have lucked out with my kids
We had many many food issues with hubby's kids
Sounds like what i used to do
Sounds like what i used to do with my kids. For drinks, for example, i would give them a choice of 2 things i knew they liked. "Do you want milk or orange juice?" Kid: "I want Kool-Aid!!" "Do you want milk, orange juice, or nothing?" Kid: "Kool-Aid!!" "Ok, so nothing."
I see way to many parents
I see way to many parents handing their kids power by allowing negotiations. If you offer a kid a small choice. they will quicklly learn that if they don't pick A or B.. the default will be "none of the above".. and they will go without. Only has to happen a couple times before the talk back requests go away.
And.. I think parents should make some effort to not serve a food to their kids that their kid HATES.. but the hatred must be rooted in actual experience.. as in they have tried it several times and it is still unfavored. But, if broccoli is their bad food.. the family can still have it as a side dish.. there will normally be other items that the kid can fill up on.
My mom also tried to do things fairly.. I did not like turkey.. so she would often have a small ham at thanksgiving along with the bird.. and we would have prime rib for Christmas.. not turkey..
Fortunately, our family was pretty good about eating most stuff she brought out.. she was a good cook. and we had a lot of experiences with foreign foods... and my parents didn't fight with us about food.. though we knew the rule of trying the "new item"
Reasonable and measured.
Reasonable and measured. Definately the way to go. Particularly making sure a food aversion is proven via experience.
When I was a kid and Mum was
When I was a kid and Mum was out of inspiration, she would ask me and my brother what we wanted for supper. Being a foodie, I would mull over the possibilities which wasted valuable time. That's how,we came to eat cheeseburgers and/or Campbell's tomato soup with croutons so often. I never learned from this mistake.
During childhood I do not
During childhood I do not recall being asked even once what we wanted for a meal except for birthdays. That did not start until I left for boarding school at 15 and then when my brother left for boarding school at 17. When we came home for winter, spring, or summer break mom would ask what we wanted her to make during the break. She always did a few of out requested favorites. Now when we visit mom and dad or they visit us, mom will ask what we want. Mainly we try to pre-plan meals so we can cook or we pre-plan reservations at nice restaurants to keep mom as far away from a kitchen as possible so she does not do her usual countless hours of cooking.