Why is it all kids are picky eaters.

This issue receives more than it's share of attention in my extended family. And I was thinking about it a lot yesterday. In my family of origin I was always the 'good eater' and my sister was the picky one. I ate happily almost everything my parents put in front of me while my sister picked and whined. I knew I was in good with my parents because of this. For some reason they put a lot of value on eating.

Fast forward to now and my kids are the 'good eaters' in my parents eyes and my sisters are picky. It's not even true at all! But they say it like it's as natural as breathing that one family would have good eaters and one not.

Yesterday I went to lunch with my mom and my kids. We went to the Mongolian barbecue. My kids always like it there. Kathrynn loves egg drop soup! She ate all 4 bowls. This is a given. No one freaks out about it. It's 'cute' that she loves this so much and will eat it to the exclusion of everything else. Aiden shares my medium bowl of noodles, veggies, and meat. He mostly picked out the meat. As I was picking the thick, hard cabbage chunks out of my food my mom commented that she was glad my family weren't picky eaters. I had to laugh.

Here I was picking food out of a dish that I had chosen the ingredients for while my daughter ate soup (and only soup) and my son picked meat out of my food. And yet somehow we're NOT picky eaters?

I realized then that picky is as picky does (as Forrest gump would say).

Adults are not generally perceived as picky eaters. Do you know why? Because adults are the ones making the food. At the very least they're the ones ordering the food to their own specifications. Meanwhile children are only seen as the (ungrateful) recipients of food.

I don't like onions. For the most part I go out of my way not to encounter them. I order my food without onions. So generally no one has seen me throw away an entire slice of pizza because I bit into one onion. And as such I'm generally not seen as picky by outsiders. But if I'm eating 'foreign' potato salad, for instance, and it's loaded with onions, I will swallow without chewing to avoid the onions. How much better off I would be if I could just say 'no thank you'! But hell, I'm the Good Eater. I can't do that.

Can't we all just have preferences? My kids love spaghetti and don't like tacos. If my parents came on taco night they would see my kids as picky. If the came on spaghetti night they would watch Kathrynn devour 2 plates of spaghetti and assume she was a 'great eater'.

What the hell?

How is it a benefit to anyone if a person will eat ANYTHING? My husband is generally like that. He will eat pretty much anything. And in large portions. To tell you the truth it's frustrating at times because I would like to make things for him that he 'likes' but when he will eat anything it's hard to know what he really prefers.

I like Good Food. Maybe that does make me picky.

Perhaps Picky is in the eye of the preparer. :) My husband doesn't like olives. If I cooked more foods with olives maybe he would be the picky one.

I try not to pass judgment on what my children eat. I try not to define them as picky or as good eaters. I do appreciate that they are willing to try new things and that I can take them to pretty much any restaurant and find something they will like.

Maybe eating habits have more to do with a persons overall adaptability. Some people are by nature just more able to adapt to new situations than others. They shouldn't be punished or praised for this. It should just be accepted.

Wow! Two posts about food! Maybe I'm hungry.