Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s cultural. My husband and I come from different cultures, both without kids menus or special kids meals. Our kids eat everything and have since they were babies. Seafood, liver, kale, mushrooms, spicy food — they eat everything and will try anything. The key for us was 1) always serve a variety so they don’t get used to any one thing in those “picky” phases and 2) don’t give in to demands. When our oldest was one they would wail for pancakes sometimes. Nope. You eat what everyone eats. Eventually when they learned that after a week or so it never happened again. We also always served vegetables first and limited snacks.

Everywhere I’ve been, all over the globe, has “kid foods.” Japan, India, Germany, Colombia, Peru. Never have I seen anywhere a culture that doesn’t include a regular reliance on “kid friendly” options separate from more intense and spicy adult foods. Those foods might look a little different than our American stand-bys, but of course they exist. Everywhere.

There are no “kid foods” in Spain. I lived there for years and can attest to this.

https://spanishsabores.com/what-do-kids-eat-in-spain/

https://familylifeinspain.com/2014/05/spanish-food-for-children/

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s cultural. My husband and I come from different cultures, both without kids menus or special kids meals. Our kids eat everything and have since they were babies. Seafood, liver, kale, mushrooms, spicy food — they eat everything and will try anything. The key for us was 1) always serve a variety so they don’t get used to any one thing in those “picky” phases and 2) don’t give in to demands. When our oldest was one they would wail for pancakes sometimes. Nope. You eat what everyone eats. Eventually when they learned that after a week or so it never happened again. We also always served vegetables first and limited snacks.

Everywhere I’ve been, all over the globe, has “kid foods.” Japan, India, Germany, Colombia, Peru. Never have I seen anywhere a culture that doesn’t include a regular reliance on “kid friendly” options separate from more intense and spicy adult foods. Those foods might look a little different than our American stand-bys, but of course they exist. Everywhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s cultural. My husband and I come from different cultures, both without kids menus or special kids meals. Our kids eat everything and have since they were babies. Seafood, liver, kale, mushrooms, spicy food — they eat everything and will try anything. The key for us was 1) always serve a variety so they don’t get used to any one thing in those “picky” phases and 2) don’t give in to demands. When our oldest was one they would wail for pancakes sometimes. Nope. You eat what everyone eats. Eventually when they learned that after a week or so it never happened again. We also always served vegetables first and limited snacks.

Everywhere I’ve been, all over the globe, has “kid foods.” Japan, India, Germany, Colombia, Peru. Never have I seen anywhere a culture that doesn’t include a regular reliance on “kid friendly” options separate from more intense and spicy adult foods. Those foods might look a little different than our American stand-bys, but of course they exist. Everywhere.

+1.

The issue is that a certain group of UMC striver types have made having a kid with an "adventurous palate" a mark of sophistication. They think they are being very cosmopolitan by bragging about what their kids eat. They are actually being elitist but whatever.

The paste of true poverty is never picky. It requires a certain elitism to restrict your tastes.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s cultural. My husband and I come from different cultures, both without kids menus or special kids meals. Our kids eat everything and have since they were babies. Seafood, liver, kale, mushrooms, spicy food — they eat everything and will try anything. The key for us was 1) always serve a variety so they don’t get used to any one thing in those “picky” phases and 2) don’t give in to demands. When our oldest was one they would wail for pancakes sometimes. Nope. You eat what everyone eats. Eventually when they learned that after a week or so it never happened again. We also always served vegetables first and limited snacks.

Everywhere I’ve been, all over the globe, has “kid foods.” Japan, India, Germany, Colombia, Peru. Never have I seen anywhere a culture that doesn’t include a regular reliance on “kid friendly” options separate from more intense and spicy adult foods. Those foods might look a little different than our American stand-bys, but of course they exist. Everywhere.

+1.

The issue is that a certain group of UMC striver types have made having a kid with an "adventurous palate" a mark of sophistication. They think they are being very cosmopolitan by bragging about what their kids eat. They are actually being elitist but whatever.

Anonymous wrote:You just don’ t want to deal with the hassle of getting them to eat what you are cooking. You do you but this creates boring, self-centered, entitled and unadventurous children. And nutritionally all the carbs and sugar and processed crap gets them addicted and they crave these limited repertoire of foods

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I"m just throwing this out there because I constantly hear the advice about how your kids should "eat what you eat." But they don't want to! It does't taste good to them -- they have brand new taste buds, so strong flavors are too much for them, plus kids naturally gravitate towards foods that are sweeter and simpler. I figure as they get older they will naturally become more interested in more adult flavors and start to eat more of our foods.

I have every faith you know your own kids best, OP, and this may be true for them, but then to presume it's true for all kids is more than a bit of a stretch. I've known toddlers who grew up on spiced curries, and southwestern chiles, and who have adventurous palates, and some who do not.

You can say it's right for your kids without making rules about how it has to be for all the other kids, you know?

I am from a culture that is known for its very spicy dishes and even we start out serving the children milder food and gradually add the spice in. OP isn't necessarily wrong in this regard, she might have just said it in a weird way.

I have a South Indian friend, and her version of "mild" kid food is my version of "mouth on fire".

OP can do whatever she wants with her kids, but common sense does indicate that it will be easier for children to develop a varied palate if they are introduced to small tastes in childhood, than if they suddenly discover it as adults. Also, OP assumes that it's easy for a family to just cook several dishes. Perhaps it's not for some busy families.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s cultural. My husband and I come from different cultures, both without kids menus or special kids meals. Our kids eat everything and have since they were babies. Seafood, liver, kale, mushrooms, spicy food — they eat everything and will try anything. The key for us was 1) always serve a variety so they don’t get used to any one thing in those “picky” phases and 2) don’t give in to demands. When our oldest was one they would wail for pancakes sometimes. Nope. You eat what everyone eats. Eventually when they learned that after a week or so it never happened again. We also always served vegetables first and limited snacks.

Everywhere I’ve been, all over the globe, has “kid foods.” Japan, India, Germany, Colombia, Peru. Never have I seen anywhere a culture that doesn’t include a regular reliance on “kid friendly” options separate from more intense and spicy adult foods. Those foods might look a little different than our American stand-bys, but of course they exist. Everywhere.

Anonymous wrote:I like PP’s point, but I believe the moral of the story here is to relax and not agonize too much over principles, but rather take a pragmatic approach.

Which in my house means no short order cooking.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I"m just throwing this out there because I constantly hear the advice about how your kids should "eat what you eat." But they don't want to! It does't taste good to them -- they have brand new taste buds, so strong flavors are too much for them, plus kids naturally gravitate towards foods that are sweeter and simpler. I figure as they get older they will naturally become more interested in more adult flavors and start to eat more of our foods.

I have every faith you know your own kids best, OP, and this may be true for them, but then to presume it's true for all kids is more than a bit of a stretch. I've known toddlers who grew up on spiced curries, and southwestern chiles, and who have adventurous palates, and some who do not.

You can say it's right for your kids without making rules about how it has to be for all the other kids, you know?

I am from a culture that is known for its very spicy dishes and even we start out serving the children milder food and gradually add the spice in. OP isn't necessarily wrong in this regard, she might have just said it in a weird way.

I have a South Indian friend, and her version of "mild" kid food is my version of "mouth on fire".

OP can do whatever she wants with her kids, but common sense does indicate that it will be easier for children to develop a varied palate if they are introduced to small tastes in childhood, than if they suddenly discover it as adults. Also, OP assumes that it's easy for a family to just cook several dishes. Perhaps it's not for some busy families.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I am definitely not saying that everyone has to do it my way. I'm just saying that you never hear people say "just make your kids separate foods, its fine" and I have found it is fine.

But I've been told a million times, by pediatricians, teachers, friends, family, "Just feed them what you eat!" As though all kids just eat what adults eat no issue. But my kids have never done this, and when we've tried to do family dinners without substitutions, or even minimizing substitutions, it just leads to conflict. So I just decided that what matters is that they eat regularly healthy meals that hit all their nutritional needs, and it's not actually that important that they eat the exact same foods.

Obviously if your kid happily eats whatever you eat, this isn't an issue. But serving different food is way better than either arguing over eating the family meal or watching them eat the least nutritious version of that meal when there are plenty of nutritious foods they WILL eat.

People act like serving your kids "kid food" at a meal is a failure and it's really not. I personally think it would be a failure if my my kid was eating nothing but tortillas/rolls/bread/rice and milk for dinner every night, which is what would happen if I didn't offer an alternative to our adult foods.

How about the dozens if not hundreds of people who would say NOTHING TO YOU AT ALL ABOUT HOW TO RAISE YOUR KIDS, because we would never dream of offering unsolicited parenting advice! You haven’t heard “just do X” because real life is not DCUM, and well-mannered adults do what works for them, live their lives, and don’t offer advice unless specifically ASKED.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s cultural. My husband and I come from different cultures, both without kids menus or special kids meals. Our kids eat everything and have since they were babies. Seafood, liver, kale, mushrooms, spicy food — they eat everything and will try anything. The key for us was 1) always serve a variety so they don’t get used to any one thing in those “picky” phases and 2) don’t give in to demands. When our oldest was one they would wail for pancakes sometimes. Nope. You eat what everyone eats. Eventually when they learned that after a week or so it never happened again. We also always served vegetables first and limited snacks.

Everywhere I’ve been, all over the globe, has “kid foods.” Japan, India, Germany, Colombia, Peru. Never have I seen anywhere a culture that doesn’t include a regular reliance on “kid friendly” options separate from more intense and spicy adult foods. Those foods might look a little different than our American stand-bys, but of course they exist. Everywhere.

Anonymous wrote:I know adults who grew up in with this food philosophy. They still eat chicken nuggets and order caterpillar rolls at sushi restaurants. Do what you like, OP, but many kids appreciate strong flavors and relish them. Tonight, my 8 and 11 year ate a chicken and tofu curry - sort of thai/Cambodian style, and papaya salad. We are Korean and I love spicy food, but my kids are next level when it comes to their love of spice. They’re normal kids who like trying new foods - most of the time they try something at a restaurant, love it, and then I make my own version at home. It’s fun for me too- I get to try my hand at Indian, middle eastern, Thai, Indonesian, Peruvian. Bland food is boring!

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s cultural. My husband and I come from different cultures, both without kids menus or special kids meals. Our kids eat everything and have since they were babies. Seafood, liver, kale, mushrooms, spicy food — they eat everything and will try anything. The key for us was 1) always serve a variety so they don’t get used to any one thing in those “picky” phases and 2) don’t give in to demands. When our oldest was one they would wail for pancakes sometimes. Nope. You eat what everyone eats. Eventually when they learned that after a week or so it never happened again. We also always served vegetables first and limited snacks.