Picky dinner guests (kids)

[ISUKappa]

Originally Posted by AGDee

If a child isn't rude about it, what's the problem with them NOT eating stuff they don't like? I truly don't understand why my mother always forced it on me when I hated it and it made me gag. It seems to me like it's just a control thing. As an adult, I have the control to not serve things I don't like. Kids have no choice. They are stuck with whatever someone puts in front of them. I don't see why it has to be "Eat everything that makes you want to vomit" vs. "be a horrible kid". Who eats stuff that makes them want to be sick except as a child, when an adult is forcing it on you? I surely don't.

If they're not rude and they at least *try* it (and I mean one, good-sized bite, not the miniscule things my son tries to pull on us) then I don't have an issue with it. I'm still not making them a separate meal. We have plenty of other sides available at the dinner table that they can eat if they truly don't like the main dish (likewise, when we go to friends/family to eat). I know at least for babies/toddlers who are just starting to eat regular food, they say it takes an average of 8-10 tries of feeding a specific food to them before they "like" it. I don't agree with making my children eat Everything on their plate (that can begin another negative association with food), but they have to try it and they can't complain.

But in the OP's case, these kids aren't trying the food (even when it's things they've SAID they like and that she's specifically made for them) and are being extremely rude. It also doesn't help her sister is enabling that behavior and pulling a passive-aggressive guilt trip on the OP.

[ColdInCanada11]

I'm one of the pickiest eaters in the world, but those kids are RIDICULOUS. My grandma and my mom are picky eaters, so I was never forced to eat anything I truly didn't like. At home, my parents would usually just make me the plain version of whatever, but nothing that required extra work for them (I can't count how many times I heard - "we're not a restaurant!"). However, going out in public and to other people's homes, I was to eat what was in front of me, at least half of it. I would have never even THOUGHT of complaining to a hostess or shoving food in the couch . I would just make sure to focus on the buns/salads/whatever I liked, and would usually have something small before I left. And dessert when you hadn't eaten your dinner????????????? If that happened, it meant hell had frozen over.

Like I said, I'm an insanely picky eater, and these kids' behaviour HORRIFIES me.