Picky Eaters Poll

When I first met my husband, he warned me that he was a picky eater. He hated peas, tuna, Thai food, most Chinese food, chowders and many miscellaneous other foods. He also stressed that he didn't share food and would appreciate it if I kept my fork off his plate. From frog legs (yummy) to oysters on a half shell, I'll eat, or at least try, just about everything. I was a bit disappointed and pictured us forever eating at steakhouses.

Five years and two children later my husband is, what I'll call, a Recovering Picky Eater. While he still doesn't like to share food with me (aside from dessert), he will let Olivia eat off his plate if she refuses to let him put some of his food on her plate. Hey, it'll prevent a tantrum in a restaurant.

While living in Columbus, Georgia, I dragged him to a Thai restaurant insisting that he could just eat rice (he loves white rice). Starving, he decided to try a rice and beef curry dish. If he didn't like it, I'd eat the left-overs for lunch the next day. Well, it wasn't long before he was trying other curry combinations. He was hooked.

Recently, he was "tricked" into eating chowder. I made fish soup. And, my husband loves fish. I made it with potatoes, onions, chicken broth, milk, bacon and halibut. I mashed up some of the potatoes to make it thicker, more chowder-like. He eyed it suspiciously and took a bite. After his second bowl he exclaimed, "This is chowder, isn't it? I knew it tasted funny." A couple of weeks later, he ordered clam chowder on a sea life wilderness day cruise we went on with the girls. I did a double take when I heard him order and he looked at me and said, "Well, you tricked me into liking it."

And, just the other day, I caught him placing a Portuguese tuna-dip on his bread. I let him eat several bites before informing him that there was tuna in it. Since it didn't smell like tuna, he insisted it must be some other kind of fish. But, I love tuna and I'm certain that's what was in it. It was then that I realized that my husband isn't really a picky eater. I doubt he ever was. He just thought he was. And, I don't think it was the fault of his mother or father. I think he was (still is) strong-willed and refused certain foods for such a long time, everyone thought he must really not like them.

As I watched Olivia eat spinach pizza the other day, it occurred to me that she has a broad palate. She'll eat calamari, chowders, salad, peas, broccoli (her favorite veggie) more varieties of fruits than I do, all kinds of fish, stews, tofu, etc. You name it, she'll usually eat it and since we arrived here in Portugal, her palate has expanded even more. I'm amazed at some of the things our two-year-old will eat.

However, often, she'll exclaim that she doesn't like something and she'll even go on for weeks that she doesn't like a certain food (yogurt, for example). I'll continue to serve it and, eventually, she'll start eating it again.

And, even though Olivia was "underweight" and at least two doctors insisted I bring her in for weight checks because they were concerned (I never went in because I wasn't concerned), I've never allowed Olivia to eat junk (okay, unless I'm sick or 9-months pregnant) because she didn't like what was being served. She just went to bed hungry. I've been pretty strict about this; following the advice of my parents and a few friends who have, pretty much, the same rules. I just don't think it's possible for toddlers to starve themselves to death. And, if a toddler isn't eating much, there's those yummy things most toddlers like called vitamins.

Of course, I'm not talking about children who have health issues or developmental issues. Many children with food allergies refuse certain foods. It's their body's way of protecting itself. Those children are picky for good reason. And, I'm not talking about children liking everything. We all have foods we don't like and that doesn't mean we're picky.

So, what am I getting at? Well, I've recently read some questions posed by parents about their children being picky eaters. My favorite, "Dear doctor so-and-so, my toddler will only eat frozen pizzas. How do I get him/her to eat a better variety of food such as fruit and veggies?"

The doctor always responds with something like, "How did your child begin eating frozen pizza's in the first place? And, don't give up on your child yet! It may take 10 or more tries for your child to like something placed in front of him/her. " The doctor will then go on with tricks for getting your toddler to eat this or that.

However, I wonder if picky eating is more of a behavior thing (as implied by many doctors) that parents let slip through the cracks. Could a strong-willed, smart child who suddenly gives up his love for peas and starts gagging when offered them be going through a stage? Do we as parents just give up offering peas because we think our child truly doesn't like them, therefore, as an adult, they (like my husband) insist they've never liked them. Do parents panic too much about their children being too thin and, therefore, allow dangerous eating habits to set in (such as the child who only eats frozen pizzas)?

Is it possible that sending Olivia to bed with nothing to eat after she decides that she doesn't like what we're eating for dinner, damaging her emotionally? Or, am I helping prevent a picky eater, setting boundies, etc.?

While Olivia appears to have a very big palate, I do have to get creative at times. I've put pumpkin puree into pancakes. I've put almond flour (for protein) into pancakes and whole-grain muffins. I've put bananas in her peanut and jelly sandwiches. Snuck sweet potato into stews and extra fruit in her yogurt. A few times I've even allowed her to eat half a bag of orange-flavored craisins when she's refused fruit all week. Just yesterday she ate a banana, two peaches, two plums, craisins and oatmeal. And, that's all she ate all day. She refused to eat peanut butter and jelly for lunch, so I saved it for dinner. She refused it at dinner and ate oatmeal instead (I didn't cook a proper dinner because I had class to go to and Matt was at a formal dinner for work). I thought she may wake up in the middle of the night starving. But, she woke up at her normal time, happy as a lark, asking to play with Lila.

I'd like to know what you all think about picky eaters. So, write in with your comments and take the poll.

Pictures

Olivia putting her cousin, Cyprien, to "bed."

I haven't posted any pictures in over a month. So, here's a couple pictures from our layover in NJ on our way here. Several of my family members and Matt's showed up at our hotel to enjoy a short visit with our family.

Olivia likes to put everyone to bed. Her babies, her parents, her sister, etc. The above picture was of her putting her cousin down for his nap.


Aunt Robin with Lila

Below, Olivia and Cyprien playing in the pool. Olivia loves to swim and, recently, we bought her a small pool for our backyard patio. Lila has spent some time enjoying it also.

Saturday evening, Matt and I got a sitter and went out to dinner. I'm afraid we'll lose our sitter because Olivia, for the third or fourth time in a row, gave our sitter a really hard time. This time, she kicked and screamed her way up the stairs on the way to bed. After being put to bed, she screamed and cried for over an hour. I'm really hoping her recent behavior issues have something to do with all the recent changes in her life. In the mean time, Matt and I are trying to come up with gentle, yet effective ways of curbing her recent behavior issues....

Matt and I took the girls into Sintra on Sunday. Sintra is a romantic town with historic remains of castles. I'll try to post some pictures of our visit towards the end of the week. Each time we would enter a room Olivia would say, "I've never been here before, Dad." And when we were in a restaurant and she spotted horses outside she exclaimed, "I really want to see them, I really do. Just for a little bit."

Other than that, the weekend was mostly uneventful. We spent some time shopping for a new TV, VOIP phone, and we went to a couple home improvement centers (like Home Depot or Lowes). We'll end up buying most everything through the military store. But, it's nice to actually have plenty of options available to us - unlike our limited options in Alaska.

We now have SKYPE service set up with a United States number. If I missed emailing it out to you and you would like it, let me know.