My 4yo doesn't like potatoes--she won't eat french fries, mashed potatoes, tater tots. Sweet potatoes? All day every day. Asparagus? Artichokes? Butternut squash? Yes, yes, yes. Potatoes, no. Not for lack of exposure too. I've just accepted that potatoes aren't preferred and I don't push it, but still offer whenever they're on the menu.
As for restaurants/kid parties/friends houses we always bring a stasher bag full of "safe" fruit and veg. Perhaps because we've done this so frequently, our kid is actually quite open to trying new foods in these settings, knowing that we always have back up snacks that she'll enjoy.
Everyone’s got their preferences (adults included), and I’ve just had to accept that some of the kid foods don’t appeal to my particular kid. For me, not being able to rely on things like chicken fingers has meant figuring out other super-fast options work for us (dumplings, hummus).
The grass is always greener. I’ve been dying to get my daughter into dumplings. Despite her favorite bedtime book being Dim Sum Palace, she rejects again and again!
When I was a child I was an incredibly picky eater. Luckily what I did eat was relatively balanced but i didn’t eat any of the usual kid foods and it was super awkward in situations like school trips, camps, friends houses, parties etc when that was obviously what I would be served. I used to dread them for that reason and ultimately the embarrassment of being given food that I couldn’t eat was what led me to getting over my food aversions. By the time I was about 9 i started forcing myself to eat everything I was given and by the time i was a teenager i ate everything and am now probably the least picky person I know! For that reason i don’t worry too much about my daughter’s pickiness but unlike me she does eat standard kid foods which does make life easier I must say. I just have to be careful not to fall into the trap of offering them too often and trying to give her our meals most days…the only issue is that my husband and I love really spicy food and unsurprisingly she’s not on board with that! Strangely I would eat anything spicy as a child even if I wouldn’t touch the same foods cooked plainly so hopefully my daughter will get on board with them eventually!
I love that you remember this progression! Of course, since writing this, I'm been like hmmmm I actually didn't like pizza or hotdogs growing up until I was 7ish. I don't remember what inspired the change, but I do take solace in my own about face too! We have the same problem with spicy! Our new solution is 8 different types of chili crunch that we add to our plates. I've been considering a post with these! Thank you for sharing
Hi, I recently started following! I love help with meal planning and your menus have looked great so far. I just wanted to ask if you've followed Virginia Sole Smith's work at all - she wrote a book about parenting in the age of diet culture and has a great Substack called Burnt Toast. She's really given me a lot to think about how I view "kid food" and "convenience food" that I think most other parents could learn a lot from.
My 4yo doesn't like potatoes--she won't eat french fries, mashed potatoes, tater tots. Sweet potatoes? All day every day. Asparagus? Artichokes? Butternut squash? Yes, yes, yes. Potatoes, no. Not for lack of exposure too. I've just accepted that potatoes aren't preferred and I don't push it, but still offer whenever they're on the menu.
As for restaurants/kid parties/friends houses we always bring a stasher bag full of "safe" fruit and veg. Perhaps because we've done this so frequently, our kid is actually quite open to trying new foods in these settings, knowing that we always have back up snacks that she'll enjoy.
I have faith she will come around to potatoes! But I feel you - it does seem like an inconvenient category.
My daughter is also not a potato lover!
Everyone’s got their preferences (adults included), and I’ve just had to accept that some of the kid foods don’t appeal to my particular kid. For me, not being able to rely on things like chicken fingers has meant figuring out other super-fast options work for us (dumplings, hummus).
The grass is always greener. I’ve been dying to get my daughter into dumplings. Despite her favorite bedtime book being Dim Sum Palace, she rejects again and again!
When I was a child I was an incredibly picky eater. Luckily what I did eat was relatively balanced but i didn’t eat any of the usual kid foods and it was super awkward in situations like school trips, camps, friends houses, parties etc when that was obviously what I would be served. I used to dread them for that reason and ultimately the embarrassment of being given food that I couldn’t eat was what led me to getting over my food aversions. By the time I was about 9 i started forcing myself to eat everything I was given and by the time i was a teenager i ate everything and am now probably the least picky person I know! For that reason i don’t worry too much about my daughter’s pickiness but unlike me she does eat standard kid foods which does make life easier I must say. I just have to be careful not to fall into the trap of offering them too often and trying to give her our meals most days…the only issue is that my husband and I love really spicy food and unsurprisingly she’s not on board with that! Strangely I would eat anything spicy as a child even if I wouldn’t touch the same foods cooked plainly so hopefully my daughter will get on board with them eventually!
I love that you remember this progression! Of course, since writing this, I'm been like hmmmm I actually didn't like pizza or hotdogs growing up until I was 7ish. I don't remember what inspired the change, but I do take solace in my own about face too! We have the same problem with spicy! Our new solution is 8 different types of chili crunch that we add to our plates. I've been considering a post with these! Thank you for sharing
Hi, I recently started following! I love help with meal planning and your menus have looked great so far. I just wanted to ask if you've followed Virginia Sole Smith's work at all - she wrote a book about parenting in the age of diet culture and has a great Substack called Burnt Toast. She's really given me a lot to think about how I view "kid food" and "convenience food" that I think most other parents could learn a lot from.
Thank you for the suggestion! I’ll definitely check her out