OK, so I never thought I'd come here to do this .....

Thanks for all the tips again folks!

Hey, did I mention they don't even eat PB&J sammichs? I think they're aliens, I tell you!!!


I'll heed some of the well given advice in here, and see what I come up with, I just laid down the LAW at dinner time, "From here on out, kids eat what WE eat!". My daughter actually ate most of her chicken marsala and my son ate half a biscuit, I guess sitting the shotgun down in the corner of the kitchen helped a little.

 

Have they always been this way? I was born with food allergies. If you wrote down what I can eat, it would fit easily on a post-it note. Seriously. I was originally called a 'picky' eater.

Mom tried everything to get me to eat what everyone else eats. I can't even imagine what she went through.

Dad tried the "You'll eat what we eat" deal. Messed me up for a long time. I believe that to be one of the biggest mistakes you could make, and you might regret it later in life.

Even now, at 53, if I venture too far away from what I know, I get hives, really, really bad hives. For example, wife made steaks on the grille the other day and put one shake of some kind of new seasoning on each of my two steaks. In two hours, I was down for the count, messed me up for three days.

What saved me, and my Mom, was a doctor who said, "If that's all he'll eat, feed him only that, he'll be fine".

If that's all they eat, let 'em eat only that. Don't try to make them conform to what you think is 'normal'.

 

i feel your pain. My 3yr old will only eat mac and cheese, but will eat yogurt and fruits. For the last 6 months it's like pulling teeth to get her to eat any meat.

 

Since no one has said it yet, I will...from the title of the thread I thought that this was going to be Blart's coming out

In all seriousness, we have rule in my house that if it's on your plate then you have to at least try it. My son will eat just about anything I put in front of him or at least try it. My daughter on the other hand would sooner shiv me in my sleep than eat some of the foods we prepare for dinner. Which is ok and it just results in her getting it for lunch the following day. I will say that as she has gotten older she has broadened her willingness to try new things which is encouraging. My wife and I are both from the school of we are not short order cooks and if you don't want to eat what was cooked that's ok but there is nothing else to eat.

 

My father made us eat what was on the plate even if it made us gag. He's dead and gone now, but what an asshole when he was alive. No need for that.

 

You are over reacting to a non problem

 

In a nutshell, the above. Some explanation is needed tho. After raising 5 kids into 20-something adults now, I had 2 of 3 as super picky eaters and the eldest was the worst and as our first we agonized over it daily. He was 6 and, one who turned out to be a very bright strong willed lawyer, btw which is interesting as you must take into account their personality, ate only and I mean only, PB & honey sammiches on white bread, dry Cheerios and pizza with the cheese and other toppings scraped off. The worst part was no greens at all! Well, we went thru the sitouts at the table, the 3 day hunger strikes, the demand to eat, dammit, loss of privelages etc. We even called in Gramma who swore she would break him. She lost. So, we took him to the ped doctor and had him checked for allergies finally, as that was suggested. Nope. Doc says he is off the charts in health, skinny cause of this and growing like a weed, blood work was perfect - i,e, he was getting all he needs so leave him alone, he'll grow out of it. He did. he's fine. Still a little picky, but who's not really? It's his life and house now, so there's that part too. The second one we didn't challenge. we still encouraged to try stuff, but if it was rejected, we moved on. You should too as your guy's diet ain't all that bad. Enjoy all the fun parts about it and damn sure do not use this fun exercise strong sport of karate as a bludgeon. That's so wrong. Pick your fights later as he reaches teen years.
My .02 as an experienced parent of 5 fully grown children that are doing great!.

 

I believe your taste buds change every 6 years.. So hopefully in a few years they change and like more stuff

 

I actually saw someone on TV talking about just that earlier during the week. She got her kids to eat a lot more vegetables, for instance, by making them help in the kitchen and taste everything.

 

Eric - Thanks for sharing.

I'm definitely old fashioned in the sense that you need to eat your meat, potato's and greens, otherwise you'll wind up unhealthy and/or screw up your growing years. In the past week I think I got through to my better half that she needs to stop preparing a different meal for them, they eat what we eat. For the past few days, I've actually seen an improvement. The deal to my son is, you try something new you get to play your electronic games and I'll sign you up for karate, he has abided by that for 3 days now so we'll see how things pan out. I actually think he does it to please me more than the games, which makes me incredibly happy.

 

Exactly, if you want them to eat different stuff, quit bringing home the same shit they eat every day. They can bitch and moan all they want, bottom line, they will eat whats presented when they are hungry. Not only will you get them to try something different, you will teach them that life is not always about getting what you want. Parents need to quit coddling their kids and tell them tough shit every once in a while. Its like that damn commecial where the parents are sitting at the breakfast table panicking because they forgot to get " Jacks cereal". Jacks cereal should be whatever you put in front of him, with no drama.

 

My 9 y.o isn't picky at all. The rule at our house is, if we make something new (say a new side dish) you have to take at least 2 bites of it. If you don't like it, that's ok but you have to at least try it. For the most part, he eats almost anything but sushi.

The bad part is, I also have to follow that rule. Sometimes my wife makes stuff I KNOW I don't like and I still have to try it.....pisses me off...

 

I WISH that somebody had been around to teach me proper nutrition when I was younger (or that the internet had been available so I could seek out the info myself). I didn't really learn what I needed to know until my mid 20's. Up to that point, I thought that the only thing you needed to do was avoid fat I spent 24 years thinking it was bad to eat a big steak and good to eat a bag of starburst. If I'd known at 14 what I know now about protein and weight training I'd have been a better athlete, built a stronger muscle foundation, and probably enjoyed my youth quite a bit more.

 

My advice would fall in the middle somewhere. A kid pushed too hard will shut down and you're just not gonna get anywhere with it except for an angry dad and a very upset, confused kid. Being too soft will get you a kid that can get away with anything. Your job as dad is to figure out the line. I chose to educate my son on the importance of being healthy and keep things positive. I sometimes have to push firmly but being an ogre just makes it worse. Good luck!

 

A kid learns early in life if he can buck up and get his way. He will also learn early in life that things, are what they are, if it doesnt work. You dont have to be an ogre or beat it into them, you just tell them that is whats for dinner. Eat it or not, dont go anywhere till the dishes are done. Its hard to send one to bed hungry, but once they figure it out, and belive me, they will figure it out, you dont have the drama of worrying if little Johnny is satisfied with todays menu.

 

+1 You've GOT to set the tone early. I've had HUGE issues with my stepdaughter because she learned early on (due to some issues my wife had with allowing me to be an authority figure) that she didn't have to listen to me and that if she made enough of a fuss, momma would come and save her. If I'd been depicted as someone to be listened to and respected from day 1, our relationship would be a million times better than it is now.

 

The words of someone who has never raised a child. Some battles are just not worth having such as what the kid wants to wear or how they want to do their hair, etc...

 

Within reason. If your 13 year old daughter wants to leave the house dressed like a $2 whore then you'd probably want to have that battle.