Picky eaters at friends houses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t care you brought noodles for your child, except it does create an issue when there are several kids under 6 and you pull out a dish of plain noodles for just your child.

Of course all of the kids, even the ones that would have ate what was served, are now going to want the noodles instead. You should have anticipated that and just asked her if she could have some plain noodles available for your kid (and know the others) or if she would prefer if you brought a single dish for your child. That at least gives her the opportunity to go ahead an make a batch so there is enough for all the kids that would prefer that.

This. Even if my kids like what's being served they are going to want the noodles. It's not like at school where everyone has a different lunch. If everyone is eating one dinner and one kid is getting buttered noodles the kids are going to notice. If it were an allergy situation I could explain that to my kid. It's harder to explain that she has to have one food but the other kid gets noodles because she's a picky eater. Especially if they are the same age.

Why? I don’t get why this kid hard. My kids know at 3 that different parents make different choices, and that we’re their parents and make choices for them. Having said that, I would let my kid eat whatever was served at the table, so if the buttered noodles were passed around they could have them.

It sounds like you think the other parent shouldn’t do what is easy for them because you want it to be easy for you instead.

[Anonymous]

I think it is ok to expect the kids to eat adult food - with one caveat. Usually, when we have dinner at friends' houses, they ask if there are special dietary restrictions. This is helpful, because they want to make something that everyone can eat. My kid will eat most chicken dishes, but doesn't eat many other meats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is ok to expect the kids to eat adult food - with one caveat. Usually, when we have dinner at friends' houses, they ask if there are special dietary restrictions. This is helpful, because they want to make something that everyone can eat. My kid will eat most chicken dishes, but doesn't eat many other meats.

That is not a restriction, that is a preference.

My daughters have severe nut allergies.
My coworker does not eat pork for religious reasons.
My brother has a shellfish allergy.
My friend is a vegetarian.

Those are restrictions. Do you get it?

[Anonymous]

If I am friends with you, I don’t care what you bring for your kid to eat. Why would I? Saves me the stress of trying to feed your picky eater! People are so harsh, jeez.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Picky eating kids are made by indulgent parents. My nephew would only PB,&J, pizza, and cold cereal with his mother. He visited me for a week and ate everything I served and I did not serve PBJ, pizza or cold cereal.

That is indulging. Others don’t eat “kid food” and both kids and parents try to expand the palate without success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When did this picky stuff become a thing? Was this a thing when you all were growing up? I don't remember it being a thing when I was growing up, we just ate what was there or went hungry and that was pretty much it. One of my grandmothers did the short order cook thing but she liked doing that for us kids and it made staying at her house fun.

+1

Personally, I think all of this is made up hype - textural this, sensory that... We've created a generation where it's ok for things to be *disgusting* and to be refused - by constantly serving instead/carrying along the *most palatable foods* (some combo of fat/sugar carbs that lights up the - goldfish, crackers, cheerios, buttered noodles, chicken tenders).

On a totally unrelated note, it seems to me that, if we've got so many kids who have sensory, add, adhd, on the spectrum, etc. issues - and it's not about parenting - I think we need to rethink what are doing environmentally that is causing such a high percentage of our population to have so many issues.

My sister is 33, still gags and vomits if her meat is too fatty. I’m 34, with enlarged tonsils; meat that is overdone and too dry gets caught in my throat. Neither of us has ever been able to gag down our grandmother’s wallpaper paste (aka oatmeal).

It’s not new. It’s just more widely discussed.

If it's that bad, it's a medical condition. For the lack of a better term at the moment, a "special need." No one is talking about SN or medical conditions. We're talking garden-variety pickiness and parents who coddle to pickies.

And you really can't tell from the outside looking in. People need to quit thinking everyone else is an idiot parent and start thinking "there but for the grace of God go I" - you really DON'T know what other parents are doing or have done. Assuming parents just "coddle to pickies" is being sanctimonious.

Oh please. I’ve seen my friends and cousins cave into and over-prioritize their kids in every way: getting away with bad behavior, toys, treats, activities. You can tell.

I’m the pp who still gags at certain food. You really can’t tell, even if they’re lenient in other ways. You think you can, and frequently other things slide when feeding therapy takes so much time and energy.