I made the mistake this weekend of revealing to someone I don't know that well that I am the kind of idiot who will pay too much money for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from Potbelly (at least, on a certain type of day where I'm too tired to make my own, for much cheaper.) "Oh, I don't know why parents buy that kind of stuff for their kids," she said, and told me a marvelous tale about her nephew who just eats whatever she and her parents eat. "I don't know why more parents don't do that!"
(She doesn't have kids, fyi.)
Here is why: it's not because I or other parents like me don't think our kids can handle grownup food. Trust me, nothing would make me happier than if Steve and I could just order our steaks or hamburgers or pizza or fish and Paul would be delighted to eat little bits of what we eat, like an actual human adult. We try this--all the time. I wish I could show you a bag of all the little tiny pieces of egg and pancake and steak and bacon and noodles and chili and burgers he has turned down--it would prove a point, a very disgusting point. It's not us--it's the kid. It's usually people who don't spend extensive time with children who don't understand how very tedious-to-perilous a meal with a crabby, picky toddler can be. Those are the toddlers who end up ruining meals for entire restaurants and ruin entire days. That's why we pack pretzels and goldfish and raisins and, yes, buy the stupid overpriced children's food. Not because I don't think Paul can't handle grownup food--it's because I know he won't. We still try to offer him the fun, 'real' food, but now we are smart enough to just add that as 'extra credit' to his toddler food.
Basically I think who is at fault here are those five to ten extra-special kids rattling around in the world who apprently will eat everything and anything. They make it seem that if parents would only try to give their kids more challenging foods, would stop being so lazy and stop offering silly baby foods, that they would become little citizens of the culinary world. Those kids, while I'm sure delightful for their parents, are like newborns who sleep through the night right off the bat: they're special and rare and possibly even just urban legends.
So, yeah. I don't have a good end to this rant except that as I nodded politely and listened to this nice lady this weekend go on about how her nephew eats Ethiopian food and whatnot, I wanted to let her spend a day with my son instead. They'd have a great time. As long as they went to Potbelly for some overpriced PB&J.
PS Paul will eat a churro though. That's got to count for something.
pg91977
I have a 3.5 yo daughter and a 1.5 year old son, and luckily, both transitioned relatively smoothly to adult food. The problem we ran into, and even more so now with my son, is they really only seem to enjoy the food they eat all day at grandma’s, which is Thai food. My in-laws are Thai, and my son LOVES the variety of soups his grandma makes for him, but it’s to the point it’s all he wants. On the plus side, it’s all pretty healthy and they have developed a diverse palate, but it can be annoying as hell when you can’t even get them to eat a hot dog or PBJ. The only foodstuff that transcends is mac & cheese, so there is always a case of easy mac in the car.
Lyz
You know, when my 3yo was a baby she used to eat anything and I was so smug. SO FREAKING SMUG. Then, she turned 2.5 and it was game over.
So, whatever. McDonald's fries and PBJ and we order kraft mac and cheese off the kid's menu. WHATEVER. Shut up everyone.
We do kind of have an eat or don't eat philosophy. I don't make the kids special meals and they can either eat it or not. But the food I make is pretty kid friendly. I think we need an update of your Just Babies Being Babies article but for toddlers.
Annie Logue
My kid thought pizza came with green peppers, and he was okay with that. Then one day we ordered pizza when Grandma was over, and Grandma said, "Here, honey, let me pick off those yucky peppers for you."
If it's not one thing, it's another.
Courtney
I haven't gotten there yet (my daughter is only four months) but my question is: what's different from a generation ago? Our moms (if I can generalize) didn't pack goldfish, etc., for every outing and they never made us a separate meal. This is a sincere question not a judgment wrapped in a question.
Erin
My older brother ordered swordfish at a restaurant as a child and ate it. I wouldn't even touch anything other than grilled cheese. It's not the parents.
steezyfosheezy
What is wrong with people? Seriously, what kind of A-hole says that to a parent?! Anywho, my 1.5 year old eats a variety of food some days, and then there are days where she will NOT eat anything except Goldfish crackers and milk. My opinion is, if she is eating she'll be fine. Growing up my cousins (brothers) would literally only eat sandwiches of white bread and american cheese, or rice with butter. And they both grew up to be smart, strapping, healthy men. It's all good.
Amy
I have a kid who eats most things (or at least will try them) but can't sleep through the night worth shit. I know people assume we're doing something wrong to make it so. Trust me. WE WOULD MUCH PREFER HE SLEEP.
Darci
I was in a grocery store with a friend and we saw a lady at checkout - her kid in the cart was throwing a fit and the lady reached over and grabbed a candy bar and handed it to the kid who finally shut up and started eating it.
My friend was like, "Gross. She's just going to hand that kid a candy bar every time it cries or acts up? What the hell kind of lesson is that?"
And I said, "In a vacuum, yes, you're right. But in reality, for all we know, this kid may have been crying and acting up for the last two days straight, driving her crazy, and this lady is just broken at this point and simply wants to get through the checkout line without crying."
My point is, when I start to comment on someone's parenting, I remind myself that I do not want to be responsible for a human being 24-7 because it's hard as hell and so I promptly shut the fuck up.