Musings on Little Humans and Their Eating Preferences

I am a notoriously picky, boring eater. People with a passion for food find my case most tragic. Yet, while I’m not the most proactive in choking down healthy stuff that I don’t like, I was always determined not to let my children suffer the same fate. With a husband who could happily eat a meal made entirely of vegetables, I knew my kids had a chance.

We figured little humans developed their eating styles the same way they develop everything else: with a mixture of their own innate uniqueness, and their environment. So we’d do our part in exposing them to all sorts of stuff. Of course, this only works if they have a parent to emulate who eats all this stuff, so that’s where Daddy comes in.

Fast forward to three children later, and I can tell you that when it comes to food, the “innate uniqueness” of these little people is just laughing at us--all the time. You think you have their favorite foods figured out, and then one day it changes for no reason. Top that off with childhood quirks like rebelling against a certain food just for kicks and giggles, and feeding kids becomes an endeavor both hilarious and depressing.

Oh, they ate sandwich meat yesterday with no problem? Well, today it’s their worst nightmare.

Every child likes Macaroni and Cheese? Well, this child does--as a squishy plaything! Now it’s all over her clothes AND she still needs something else to eat.

Bananas will enchant your child long enough for you to start buying more of them, and then she’ll want nothing to do with them.

Those are just a tiny few of the crazy examples out there. But hey, at least this craziness helps stimulate creative approaches to tricking and bribing your children. I mean, all in the name of healthy eating, right?

Let’s get a kick out of my kids’ eating habits thus far:

Ariana:

• HATED baby food
• Didn’t like french fries, rice, or potatoes at first, but would eat pasta
• Likes most fruits and veggies
• Likes desserts and candy, but not chocolate chip cookies
• Loves breads and rolls
• Kinda likes peanut butter and jam; prefers Mayo and turkey meat

Brielle:

• Didn’t like baby food
• Didn’t like pasta at first, but would eat french fries, potatoes, and rice
• Loves fruit, likes most veggies
• Loves everything sweet--all the yum-yums
• HATES hot dogs and sandwich meat
• Hates any type of bread unless it has peanut butter and jam on it

Levi:

• LOVED baby food
• Likes french fries, potatoes, and rice, and pasta sometimes
• HATES bread, and anything soft and crumbly. (Even cake almost.)
• Loves fruit, kinda likes the few veggies he can eat right now
• Hates peanut butter, loves jam

This looks and feels suspiciously like bread...

Ugh, it was! Kind of. What did I just eat??

In other words, what kids do and don't eat comes from a crazy conglomeration of their personal preferences, toddler quirks, and what they see the grown-ups eat. As long as my kids are bouncing off the walls by day and sleeping well at night, I'm happy.