i’m a big believer in nature….you know…when it comes to that whole nature vs. nurture debate. especially with my kids. i truly believe that all three of my children came out a certain way, and their personalities have no wavered since day one. this is especially true for my older two.
they were provided the same environment, even down to the toys. We bought everything for Emily. girls things and boy things. she wasn’t getting the fisher price house without also getting an airport. and she wasn’t getting a play kitchen without also getting a play barbeque. And when Joshua came around he had the same things to play with.
and Emily is all girl. she went straight for the dolls. and the dollhouses. and played dressup. she didn’t once play with the cars and the trains and bbq and airport. and Joshie is all boy. he went straight for all the toys Emily didn’t touch. and steered clear of all the pink.
this rings especially true in our house when it comes to eating habits.
Emily came out a good eater. and Joshie came out a terrible eater.
Emily will try anything. if she doesn’t like it, she doesn’t eat it. things that you wouldn’t think a kid would eat. lox and cream cheese. salmon. cabbage rolls. sushi. peas. she loves peas. if she’s never had it before, she’ll try it. no questions asked.
Joshua, on the other hand, tries nothing, and is iffy on any given day about the things he does enjoy. hot dogs. grilled cheese. mac and cheese. chicken legs. pizza. that’s about it. oh, and steak. he loves steak. so much so that he actually compares everything to steak. "You’re right Daddy, this chicken IS better than steak!"
the thing is, i fed these two the exact same way. boob. formula. rice cereal. mixed cereal. veggies. fruits. meats. cheerioes. cheese. finger food. real food. Emily always went with the flow. "here, baby, try this!" and she would. Joshie needed to be force fed. "Here baby, try this! come on, open up. just try it. you’re going to like it. joshua. just one little bite. you don’t have to eat it. just try. please. please. please." no go. he’s not big on the trying thing.
also, emily eats masses of food. she’s always hungry. all the time. and she has a fantabulous metabolism.
(something she does not get from me. my mother would like to convince you that each and every trait that my children inherited came from my family’s side. it’s possible she doesn’t even believe that the husband is their father. for example, all three of my children have gorgeous skin color. i am a sickly pasty white. as is everyone on my side of the family. we are blond and light eyed and fair skinned. all of us. there’s no tanning anywhere. they get this gorgeous coloring from my mother in law. but, my mother will argue this. "no, Ali, it comes from your side. your grandmother used to tan beautifully in the summers before she was malnurished in Auschwitz. she really had beautiful coloring." um, yes, you are really reaching, there, mom.)
and joshie eats nothing. he comes home from school with his lunchbag (Diego, in case you were curious) completely full. nothing eaten. the entire day. which, i guess, is the reason that he’s almost 4 and weighs less than 30 pounds. don’t worry, dr. says he’s healthy…he’s just never going to outgrow the carseat.
anyway, what kind of eaters are your kids? what are their favorites? any kid-friendly, picky-eater approved meals that i should try? i’ll gladly take any advice. or anyone who just simply feels my pain.
i have picked a winner, folks.
the song of the day today is: Star Mile by Joshua Radin. which makes, JRose, officially, the winner.
there are a few honorable mentions: Sara, for mentioning a song from Grey’s Anatomy. there are points right there. and Katt, for mentioning the song Flop Culture by FM static, if onlyfor the line about Avril Levigne being in Maxim. loved that. especially because that issue lives in my bathroom and i’ve been reading it for months and months now.
so…because i’m feeling generous, all three of you win a cd. please email me: amartell@scholastic.ca a mailing address so i can get those out to y’all asap.
also…please stop in at my other blog: Cheaper Than Therapy today and say hi.
Angie’s always been a good eater and will try almost anything. But, there is a weirdness to her eating habits. She loves steak and mashed potoatos, but won’t eat beef stew?
She’s a bit overweight – 58 pounds – but that’s because she’s really muscular, and I’m waiting on a growth spurt to happen any time soon!
I really appreciate this post, because in the last two weeks I’ve been getting more and more concerned about the way my daughter (she’s 3) eats. Her diet consists mainly of apple slices, PB&J and turkey and cheese sandwiches, Kraft Dinner, noodles with butter, oatmeal and bowls of cereal. And dry Cheerios — the child would eat only dry Cheerios if I let her. Which I don’t. Too often. 😉
But get this — she loves Indian, Thai and Chinese food. Weird, huh?
Oliver, on the other hand, is a garbage disposal. He eats everything and anything and yet he’s the one we’re having the allergy/digetstive issues with. Can I stomp my feet and say no fair?
It’s interesting, though, because they both mimick me and my husband: I was a great eater as a child and was always willing to try new things. My husband, on the other hand, wouldn’t eat his dinner if a bowl of salad was sitting close to his dinner plate. Julia’s the same way. *sigh*
Oh, I am so lucky. Yes, sometimes my kids will refuse food, but for the most part – they’ll at least try whatever I put in front of them. And they like both fruits & vegetables, too. LUCKY. My oldest is the real miracle – even with “treat” foods like candy, she’ll eat a bit then say, “I’ve had enough…you can finish” or “I’ll save it for later”. WOW!!!
wow! my 2 year-old eats non-stop.you would think she never gets fed.i think she is a hobbit.she just eats that much!even in the nicu(neo natal intensive care unit)she would gulp down her bottle,the nurses called her the guzzler.
but my 6 year old is a bird.that child hardly eats anything.if she could live off of cereal & crackers she would.how can her tiny little body be nourished by so little?and as for the two teenagers they can sure eat too.especially my son,he gives baby a run for her money,or maybe its the other way around.anyhow have to go her babyness wants cheese crackers.
Each of my children have different tastes but I tell them our kitchen is not a restaurant. I make a main course for all (there are condiments like pickles, cheese, cut up veggies, etc that they can choose at their discretion). I have 4 children ages 4 through 11 and I do not have the time or patience to cater to each whim. They all go throught phases but in our home if they choose not to eat their meal, they can forget their beloved ‘snacks’ in between meals. A little harsh for some but it has worked for us (most days). Best of luck!
The monkey’s getting picky. She never was before. Someone warned me that once she turned one, her love affair with food would be o-ver. And, it’s going. She’s still a good eater, but picky. The other day, she had peas and cheese and apple juice for dinner…yum….
the best way to get her to eat veggies is to make her a fritatta. Maybe this will work for Joshie? Put lots of cheese in it! The monkey LOVES eggs, and cheese is her favourite–I even mix parmesan cheese into her scrambled eggs. So, this works for us. 🙂
I’m reading this post and saying “yup, that’s my Sophia to a tee!” and she’s only 18 months old. We call her the “bottomless pit” b/c the girl can sure eat, and eat, and eat. I have to stop feeding her thinking that she eats ways too much and I don’t want her to puke. She’s like me, a very good eater. We just enjoy food.
As for my two other boys. They do like to eat too but not as much. They both love soups, brocolli cheddar soup. The oldest son loves spicy food (kimchi to be exact) and he’s only 6. The other one, who’s 3, doesn’t want anything to do with spicy food, but loves his rice. He can eat just plain white rice every single day, or with Nori. But neither one likes meats.
But it sounds like what you’re doing is right on, introducing them to everything when they’re young. The boys will like it one day, perhaps.
Funny…both of my boys are incredibly picky eaters. Especially my 6yo. He refuses to try anything new…and if he hasn’t tried something – he is completely convinced that he doesn’t like it. Would you believe he is morbidly AFRAID of cereal??? I’m not kidding – he cannot enter the kitchen when the other two are eating cereal. He gags. He used to eat cereal…maybe I gave him too many cheerios as a toddler? Who knows!! Anyway, my oldest boy was a very picky during the early years too – but he will try anything now (he’s 12). Hopefully that means they all grow out of it? My daughter has always been great to give new things a chance. I guess everyone is different! As my doctor tells me…it’s the parent’s job to offer healthy choices and the child’s job to eat them. My problem is that my youngest lives off of pizza, sandwiches (pb and cheesewhiz), frenchfries and yogurt. That’s it! And no matter how many choices I offer – he refuses to even consider the possibility of trying something new.
My son has always been a good eater who will try lots and has a HUGE appetite. My daughter – NOTHING. She is the only nearly 4 year old who still gets all of her fruits and veggies from babyfood. She went through a stage where only orange would do…I don’t mean oranges, I mean orange. Orange babyfood, nothing else. She had tons of carrots, sweet potato, and the occasional peach as well as some bread and maybe a yogurt (orange). She will not eat meat and will NEVER try anything new, “I don’t yike dat, mommy!” just from looking at it.
I agree, this is nature. My children were different from the get go. Each of them has their “thing” and my daughter’s is definitely food. I try not to get too obsessed with it but there have been times – the 24 hour food strike just about killed me!
Oh yah, I can definitely relate!
omg! your description of your 2 kids are exactly like my 2 kids. my son (9 yrs old) is willing to try almost anything, he even like sushi! my daughter (6 yrs old) is the picky eater and she eats in small bites/servings. “,)
Favourites:
-anything with pasta
-mixed vegetables
-MEAT (ROFLMAO!)
-sandwiches
-fruit platters & cut up veggies
-fish fingers
-BAGELS!!!
-vanilla custard
-vanilla yogurt
-chocolate mud cake
-broccoli (huh?)
-sausages in a bun
Dislikes:
-chicken with bones in it (go figure)
-SOUP (which annoys me)
-home made cookies (go figure, again?)
-fruit salad
-eggs
I think we all have had to deal with this at one time or another.
My children all “different” eaters. I fretted about Jeremy’s eating habits from the time he was 1 (so nearly 4 years) – I even had the paediatrician blood test him last year because he was such a crappy eater (at home), although he was apparently a “good” eater at daycare. He is VERY picky but I have laid off him and he is coming around (not that I am saying you are giving Josh a hard time). My son was underweight for his height for a while but has caught up.
Toby, by far, is the best eater of the lot – we call him the “moindless eatin machine” (i.e. Bruce from Finding Nemo LOL). He eats anything and everything and A LOT of it.
Miranda is hit or miss – she loves her food but can be picky too. Although she is desperately in love with junk food and is a chocoholic (well if I let her..). She can polish off a Happy Meal is no time flat. YES I am a bad mother..
I am pretty strict at home though with breakfast and dinner – if they don’t eat those, they get NOTHING. During the day I am not too fussed, they can graze when they are at home.
I try to make a variety of foods, but again it is hard as I am on my own most of the time so just whip up something quickly, so I don’t get inspired too often.
I have heard that kids need to try something up to 7 times to acquire a taste for it (although judging by Jeremy, sometimes it feels like 50 times!!!).
Just to be on the safe and neurotic side, I feed them all multivitamins, just in case, which in hindsight has been a good thing, seeing as Tobs recently lost 4 kg when he was in ICU and is just now eating enough to make up for it.
Keep perservering, but if the doctor says he is fine and growing and developing normally, he probably is fine.
Good luck!