“Picky Picky”

~ Elizabeth

D7C137C4-BAB0-439B-84C8-8C01FD7B2DBD.gif

Ironically, many adults who are now trying to cut back on their eating were once small children who had to be coaxed into eating. I am sure that some scientist could study a correlation between the two, but I will simply make the observation. “Picky eaters” are nothing new, though what they “pick” to eat has changed over the years.

My best kindergarten friend, Dude(his dad was named Bud, by the way) would only eat two foods, Gerber’s vanilla pudding and hamburgers. My mother had no patience for such demands and couldn’t believe that Dude’s mother went along with this routine. As I have mentioned before, picky eating wasn’t an option for us. My mother cooked one dinner and that was that. We were hungry and we ate what was there. In fact when I was first married I maintained that I liked all food since I had never really had a chance to form preferences. The only food I knew I hated was lima beans. Fortunately my father loved them and was only too happy to eat more than his share at dinner time.

As an adult I have been delighted to try all sorts of foods. I think that my childhood exposure to many tastes has helped. I know adults who still stick to just a few foods and even seem to take some pride in being “picky eaters.” A neighbor won’t eat leftovers. A friend’s husband won’t eat food in sauce. I wonder if their mothers catered to them the way Dude’s mother did. Wisely they married agreeable women who go along with their demands. As for me, I still seem to answer the question “what’s for dinner?” with my mother’s tired reply. “Food.”

 

27 thoughts on ““Picky Picky””

  1. my husband’s a nightmare. Won’t eat any green veg other than peas. No rice or pasta, curry or spices of any kind. He isn’t difficult to feed because he’d happily eat the same thing every day. We rarely eat the same meal unless it’s a roast or grill.
    His sister tells me he used to eat everything he was given (although I don’t think the menu was too varied). I asked him when he stopped eating vegetables and he said ‘When I was old enough to choose for myself.’
    I make soup.

    Like

    Reply

        1. That is funny. My daughter didn’t like tomatoes and I kicked my husband under the table one night when he started to tell her that spaghetti sauce was made from tomatoes.

          Like

  2. Pingback: Childhood Eating Habits – Go Outside Today

  4. No picky eaters here, my mother cooked each meal & we ate it!
    Although I wasn’t a fan of mashed pot & peas as they got cold on my plate…alas I am a slow eater.
    I did the same with my children, although relented on one food per child that they didn’t like 😀
    Blessings,
    Jennifer

    Like

    Reply

  5. I once refused to eat some boiled cabbage, and my Dad made me sit at the table for almost five hours until I ate it. He told me that ‘Children are starving in Africa’, and that if I didn’t eat it, I would be served it for dinner every day, until I did. When he went to the bathroom, my Mum threw it away, and told him I had eaten it.
    Now I see children in restaurants refusing to eat their dinner unless they can have chocolate first, and wonder what the modern generation of parents are teaching their kids about diet and behaviour.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Like

    Reply

    1. I never could figure out that starving kids in China(West coast American version) thing. But the only food I really couldn’t stomach was lima beans. Many modern parents build their choices around what the kids, not they, want to eat.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  6. We ate what was put on our plate, or did without. I’m not a picky eater, but I know a grown woman who is terrible when it comes to eating. No chicken, fish, or pork. Give her a hamburger, and she consumes it in under 1 min.

    Like

    Reply

      1. Fortunately, Mom was brought up eating right. So she always tried to have healthy food prepared for us. We were pretty poor, so if you didn’t want what was on your plate that meal, then there wasn’t the option of preparing multiple items just to fit one another’s taste. It also taught me to sample foods.
        Thanks for the comment Elizabeth, always a pleasure to see you.

        Like

        Reply

        1. It saddens me to see that poor families today often don’t have the knowledge to cook healthy food. I was helped by the county when I was on food stamps and made very healthy meals. Glad as always to see you back on line.

          Liked by 1 person

  7. My mother was like yours. Eat what’s in front of you or wait till supper. Now I have so many dietary restrictions, though, I’m constantly having to ask wait staff at restaurants to leave out this and put that on the side. I do leave a good tip, though.

    Like

    Reply

  9. In regards to picky eaters, my wife once stated, “I find that very unattractive in a grown man”. I guess that’s why she married me, because I will eat virtually anything placed in front of me. I smiled when I read about your friend’s husband who won’t eat anything in a sauce. That’s really quite the picky “food rule”! 🙂

    Like

    Reply

Leave a reply to Cathy Cade Cancel reply