My ten year old daughter has always battled me at mealtime. She was born 10 weeks early and was fed through a tube for two weeks before I begged the doctors to let us try bottle feeding her. I have a home video of that first bottle and halfway through you can hear the monitor sound an alarm to let us know her heart rate was dropping dangerously low. Things have only gone downhill from there.
If she was permitted to exist on popcorn, chicken nuggets and Ho Hos there would be no problem at all. The girl is totally doomed when she gets to college. Let’s hope she continues to play three sports.
When she was a toddler she would pick at her plate and it would take her an hour-and-a-half to eat a meal. People thought I was kidding until they saw it for themselves.
After Thanksgiving one year, we even received a note from a dear great-aunt who told us how impressed she was with the way our daughter sat at her seat and ate her food, while her cousins left the table and played all around her. For an hour. We didn’t have the heart to tell her that it was only because there was turkey and, for crying out loud, she has to chew turkey 136 times before she would swallow a bite. At least it made us look like good parents. For once.
She was so picky in kindergarten, that she would come home with one quarter of her sandwich eaten, and nothing else. I could hear her stomach growling from three blocks away.
Now that she’s been around for over a decade, I have learned to work with it.
Tonight I made salmon, which is one of her favorite things to eat. As we always do, we went over our best and worst parts of our day.
And darn if I don’t have to work a little harder, because when I asked my daughter to tell us the worst part of her day, she didn’t hesitate in saying, “That this salmon has no flavor.”
Follow
Email
Comments
St
SNAP!
Sorry, I don’t know where that came from. Somewhere in my brain where I keep “dude” and “salty”
Lynn
We have one of those. I’d love to hear some menu ideas from you — tell me what she *does* eat, and I’ll make it!
Debbie
We have lots of food issues in our house and they drive me insane. I try not to let them – but they do anyway!
the*4*of*us
Ha! Your kids are hilarious!
Ed
That’s just not right!
Always Home and Uncool
The one thing I miss about Thing 1’s G-Tube was that I could pour all sorts of liquified vegetables down it and never hear a complaint.
Have her try BBQ sauce on the salmon. That’s how my kids like it.
Tom
We have one too. She’s fourteen, and I don’t see how she’s managed to reach her present body mass living like an air plant. When I serve up her dinner I call it a “zen plate” because of its minimalist appearance. Honestly, I wish I had that kind of appetite.
ImakehairROCK4u2
UGH! I’m feelin ya! My 6yo has Sensory Processing Disorder….one of his big issues is food. He eats chicken nuggets, pepperoni, hamburger, steak, and bologna…when he’s in the mood. Thank God for the day when he started Kindergarten…the preschool wouldn’t let me pack his lunch!
Ann in NJ
I have an air plant as well! She gags on things she does’t like, and can’t swallow, regardless of her intent to try them.
I don’t “cater”, but I do try to make sure every meal contains at least one thing she likes (even if it’s bread). And I try to by the most fortified bread she’ll tolerate, in the hopes of squeezing in a few more nutrients. It is getting better as she gets older. A little.
Melisa with one S
WHOA! Ouch!
(but her comment IS sort of funny.)
You’re a saint to make things easier for her when you can. And just think, chances are very, VERY good that when she has kids someday, one of them will be just as picky and you can laugh and laugh and laugh.
Melissa
Ack! Sometimes you just have to wonder if you ever manage to do anything right, huh?
Did you tell her your worst part of the day was “hearing about how bad your salmon was?”
Monica
Maybe it’s something about 10 year olds. Mine is sooooooooooo slow and picky.
When he was littler, and would eat yogurt, which he won’t anymore, it was painful to watch. He would dip the spoon every so slightly into the yogurt, and then dap his toungue with the spoon. Not a speedy process. He would, though, eat it all…it would just take him half a day.
Sigh.
MammaDawg
But she ate it, right?
Mine would’ve been gagging himself, crying, “Ew. This is disgusting.”
Arrrgghhhh – lol!
Jo
Picky Eaters! In my case my husband is far pickier than my toddler. But either way – some days you feel like it would be easier to don an apron and take ala carte orders. Those days I give my self a reality check (mental head slap) and go buy some crabcakes! The heck with them.
Bee and Rose
My 6 yr old lives on nuggets and Leggo toaster waffles. It makes me crazy! She has to smell everything before it comes anywhere near her mouth…sigh…
My son was very picky…it was like he had to get used to one taste at a time..he started with salty foods, then moved to sweet, etc. He can finally eat spicy foods but it took 12 years to get there:)
BusyDad
Bwahahhaha! Gordon Ramsay’s got nuthin on her!
Heather
I also would be happy existing on popcorn, chicken nuggets, and Ho Hos (maybe a zinger to switch it up sometimes). But my butt disagrees with my assessment of the situation.
Ashley
oh man lol 🙂 That’s crazy that she was so picky that she’d leave most of her sandwich there and her tummy would be rumbling! I would’ve soooo been eating the sandwich! lol
James
I forsee a budding career as a food critic. Do what you love. LOL.
Zerilda The Superfluous Blogger
Now either
a) The rest of her day was soooo good that the salmon thing was the only complait; or
b) That was some nasty salmon.
I’m really hoping it’s a).
OHmommy
I have to agree with her… I grow bored of meatless Fridays by the second Lenten week too. 🙂
texasholly
So funny.
Rhea
Moms never get any credit. Sheesh. How hard we work…
Heather
she is picky but she will eat salmon? HA HA HA.
that is classic!
newnorth
ouch 🙂
WeaselMomma
Kid cracking me up! I have a few pick eaters myself.
Lisa@verybusymomwith4
Picky eaters are no fun! My kids go through their likes/dislikes BUT they could eat with your daughter–they love salmon!
AlisonH
Can I have hers if she’s done with it?
Rebecca Anne
Sigh, the joys and frustrations of Mommys in the Hood. I have one myself and I’ve often wondered how she made it to the age of 17 without withering away. I can only hope these picky little eaters will someday discover the purpose of taste buds and discover an entire world of flavors out there for them~
Salmon? Thats brave!
Mrs4444
What a bummer! Maybe this will help:
http://mrs4444cooks.blogspot.com/2009/02/spice-crusted-salmon-with-lime-orange.html (Even without the salsa part, it’s terrific!)
the planet of janet
oh man, that’s cold!
Mama Dawg
Gotta love kids.
nonnasnonsense
i can’t believe a picky eater would eat salmon. yuck! my g-kid is picky too. we had him smell some canned salmon the other day and not only did he gag but he tried to spit the smell out (he’s 3) i had to explain that you can’t spit smell out LOL. i’m so bad that i wanna get him to smell some tuna just so i can video it to blog it. i know, bad grandma, bad!