I'm cracking down because you told me to.

Last night: Chicken cutlets, steamed broccoli with lemon, whole-wheat couscous.

Result: couscous tasted and vehemently rejected; other foods refused.

Interesting factoid: Couscous can settle into nooks and crannies of your dining room faster than you can say STOP SPITTING IT ALL OVER THE PLACE. You'll find couscous nubbins everywhere the next day! And the bitter memories will resurface.

Tonight: Chicken-apple sausage, sauteed kale, mashed potatoes, butternut squash soup. (What can I say? I'm in a cooking mood. Also, the soup is most definitely not homemade. I'm not in that much of a cooking mood.)

Chances of him eating anything: the butternut squash soup used to be a contender, which is why I'm including it. Everything else? HA HA HA HA HA.

Pray for me.

UPDATE: Nothing. Nothing! He talked a great deal about the soup and how he was going to try it, but then demurred when I offered the slightest bit of encouragement. Luckily I didn't care so this didn't bother me one bit. (I am now stifling a scream.)

Comments

[amanda]

My 2 year old has taken to saying "damnit" and "jesus"in an exasperated tone when we push. The little cherub has me on my knees.

[BeckaJo]

Heh. Very late now, but I've been told no kid will starve to death over being a picky eater.

My mother likes to recount the THREE YEARS (three to six) during which I would only eat 'round foods.' Primarily macaroni shell and cheese casserole with peas and circle-cut hot dogs. I don't know why she let me get away with this. But we all survived and I happily dine on other geometric shapes.

[whymommy]

I love LizPenn's idea -- Alice, keep us posted on how this goes! It must be terribly hard to change a preschooler's eating habits, and I'm fascinated to see what (and how) you try. Your dinners sound DELICIOUS. Ours aren't nearly as fancy, and are somewhat kid-driven, but our kid mostly eats them these days. I was really intrigued by your story and the link to the 1928 study results in your previous comments, and it inspired me to write about our food issues too. We're doing pretty well, but vegetables are realy hard to convince our toddler to eat.http://toddlerplanet.wordpress.com/2006/12/28/food-choices-of-toddlers/

[Lisa in OK]

Hey, whatever Henry doesn't eat just pass my way! :)

[Posy]

My son is the same way, and he is now 14 years old and perfectly healthy. Every so often he "switches" his food preferences and we just adjust accordingly. My only advice would be to offer bland, simple foods. Sometimes kids are "supertasters" and the strong taste to some foods is overwhelming to them.

Foods that work for us: Cheerios, Pancakes, Waffles, Cornbread, Corn, Baked Chicken, Steak, Raw Carrots, Strawberries and Pears

[jen]

We've also been through the fussy stage - still do to some extent in that he doesn't want to try stuff he's never had. I don't do backup meals - but if I'm cooking a spicy curry I'll give him tuna mornay or canned spaghetti instead. He also doesn't get dessert if he doesn't eat everything, and he LOVES his dessert!

[KellyR2]

As a grown up who was a super picky eater, I'm so torn on this issue. On the one hand, I'm a decently healthy adult now and while my list of foods I'll eat is not nearly as diverse as most people's, it's much better than it was when I was a kid, so I figure that's good! On the other hand, it really would be nice to be able to eat and enjoy normal meals and be able to go to people's houses for dinner without worrying about offending the host because I don't like the food.So I guess, I say, take the middle road - keep offering, keep encouraging, but don't make a humongous deal out of it because if he is a super picky eater, nothing you do is likely to make a difference anyway, and he'll grow up just fine

[meredith]

i laughed the knowing laugh of a mom who has been there before when i read your post. my own two kids are weird in their eating habits and although i ought to kiss the ground the walk on for loving vegetables, i live in fear that one day, they will refuse to eat broccoli ever again. neither one of them will so much as touch a blueberry and my daughter looks at me like i'm trying to poison her when i put mashed potatoes on her plate. but i keep on trying. last week i got her to eat lasagna so i think (at least i hope) i am seeing the light at the end of the children's food jag tunnel. hang in there, you're definitely not alone!

[Jaynee]

Take heart, dear one! I was yet another VERY picky eater even through high school (me: Mom, what are we having for dinner tonight? my mom: We are having chicken curry with couscous and asparagus tips. me: Mom, what am *I* having for dinner tonight? my mom: ...). After college (during which I ate primarily red meat and potatoes every day because it's the only thing I recognized in the school cafeteria), I slowly began branching out. It was only in my mid-20s that I began eating vegetables (as opposed to only lettuce, onions and potatoes). I now eat carrots, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower. Sometimes I actually have COLOR on my dinner plate (although I admit that my meals even now do frequently stray into the white category like your son's). But in any case, he'll branch out as he gets older. ... Yeah, he'll branch out.