My Kid Is A Picky Eater

Hi.  I’m Britney, and I’m the mother of a picky eater.  This really isn’t shocking news if I think about it long enough.  Not only is it rather common for a 2-year-old to be a picky eater, but my kiddo’s dad has always been a picky eater, along with a couple of other family members.  Can that trait be genetic?  Apparently so, because this child of mine dislikes many more foods than he actually likes.  The real truth is that there are many foods that he won’t even try.  I guess if it doesn’t look, feel and smell just right, then he rejects it.  One of my many motherly goals that I came up with during my pregnancy was to prepare meals at home for my kiddo and my husband as often as possible.  I want my son to eat nutritious, delicious food made with love by his mother, plain and simple.  So ever since he was able to eat “real” food, I have tried this and that and cooked many things that I ended up eating alone many times (if my  husband is working out of town, then I’m really only cooking for 1.5).  Some foods that Rowdy will definitely eat are; peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, plain peanut butter sandwiches, goldfish crackers, cheese crackers, chewy fruit snacks, chips, pizza and several types of fruits.  Some foods that Rowdy will eat most of the time are; spaghetti (as you can see in the pic above), rotini pasta, taco salad, cashews and cereal.  Some foods that Rowdy will never eat are; many vegetables, many types of meat, many cheeses, all potatoes except fries, eggs and beans.  As you can see, his dislikes include lots of dinner options, so as you can imagine, cooking dinner isn’t always a happy task for me.  And although I understand that this is (hopefully) just a phase and he in fact will survive on PB&Js, goldfish crackers and fruit, I also know that I should continue to offer him new foods on a fairly regular basis.  Every once in a while he does try something new and I celebrate, of course.  So to all of you brand new parents that plan on raising a well-rounded child that likes sushi as much as he likes pizza just like my husband and I did, stay calm if that doesn’t happen right away.  I think if we are determined and expose our kiddos to as much great food as possible, we will succeed…probably.  🙂