Eat, Play, Love: Raising Healthy Eaters is a blog series by parents and dietitians whose stories and advice reminds us that we can overcome the challenges of feeding children. Subscribe to find ways to build lifelong healthy eating habits for your children.
Like many well-meaning parents, mine were not enlightened to Ellyn Satter’s division of responsibility. They demanded that I eat the foods they thought I needed at that moment, rather than giving me the time and space to learn to like them on my own. The result? I am a picky eater. I can list dozens of foods that I will not taste and prefer not to even touch or smell.
When my twins were born, I vowed to approach their feeding in a way that precluded my picky eating habits. I promised to cook and serve the foods that I didn’t want to touch or smell, because I wanted them to have the most diverse range of foods to choose from. I knew that they would have preferences and dislikes on their own, and I worried that if I started off by eliminating all of the foods that I wouldn’t eat, and they eliminated the foods they didn’t like, we might not be left with many choices at all!
This commitment took some sacrifice on my part. I had to get over my sense of smell and learn to buy (how do you know when certain fruits are ripe if you don’t eat them?) and prepare foods I’ve never eaten. I also experimented with new foods and flavors to find meals that we would all learn to love. Most importantly, we made a commitment to eating together every night, and I make sure that all food groups are on our plates and milk is in our glasses.
My approach seems to be serving us pretty well. Although I have held on to my picky eating habits, my soon-to-be-three-year-olds aren’t exhibiting any. Like most toddlers, some days they eat a good range of everything I serve and other days they barely take a bite of anything. But they always are willing to try new foods and have begun helping me in the kitchen.
So while we are doing well now, I am preparing myself for the important question that hasn’t come up yet, “How come you’re not eating that, mommy?”
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