Picky Eater

[5 Little Monkeys]

I was and still am a picky eater. It can be stressful when you go to someone's home for a meal and there isn't much offered that you like. As an adult, I am obviously capable of managing to swallow some stuff down so I don't offend the host/hostess but there are times I will just pretend I'm not that hungry if it something I REALLY don't like lol. Imagine being a child though and having this issue.

I think sometimes kids get labelled "picky" when in reality they have just learned that mom or dad will cave in and give them what they like but I do believe in some situations, the child really doesn't like or can't eat the food. I have texture issues myself so I try to be aware and understanding of that when it comes to children.

I never want meal time to be stressful as I don't want to be the one responsible for creating a food issue with a child. This doesn't mean that I'm a restaurant though!! I cook one meal and that is what is served. However, if I see or know a child really, really doesn't or can't eat a specific food, I will make sure that there are things served with it that I know they like. I would never want to go to bed hungry and I don't want that for the children in my care either. Dessert at lunch is always a fruit and thankfully I have never had a child not like fruit so at least they would get something in their tummy before bedtime. I'm also not overly strict with my menu...if I'm serving raspberries for dessert today but I know xxx doesn't like them, I will give xxx apples. I have never had an issue with a child noticing this and asking for apples. Even if they did, I would explain that they like raspberries but xxx prefers apples. Not the end of the world in my books to do this or to explain it to the children.