Food

I was a picky eater as a child and teenager and as an adult will now eat anything (except fish and certain animals that are too cute and fluffy or feathery to be eaten).  I only started to become a not picky eater when I started to take an interest in my health and when I started to cook for myself.  Suddenly I discovered that vegetables didn't have to be boiled to within an inch of their life until they were pale, tasteless, mushy and probably devoid of any nutritional value anyway and could instead be served steamed, hot, colourful and flavourful.  It was a revelation to me trying my first American salad and discovering that green stuff could be crispy, refreshing (and probably highly calorific) food to be enjoyed and not just scraped around the plate, sad, warm, soggy and limp like british side salads tended to be. 

Having survived a mostly vegetableless childhood and learned to make better decisions in adulthood, I tend not to push the children with their food choices and to offer plenty of healthy food and hope they one day take it up.  I know the misery of being told just one more bite before you get dessert/pocket money/to go play with friends etc, it made no difference to how I viewed food.  It might have 'worked' for that mealtime in that I'd have had a few mouthfuls, but then the next time it was served would be a similar battle.  The adult's hope that once a child has tried something they will realise that they actually like it, is never going to become a reality when they are eating it under such duress. 

So in our house, food is offered with no strings attached and even if the children make the same food choices that I did, at least they havn't had the added trauma of mealtime battles.  Although I will confess that it near broke my heart last time we ate out when they chose hotdogs and beans from a lovely, imaginative and varied menu. 

I also disagree with encouraging children to finish their plate as I think it makes the ignore their cues for when they are full.  Given that the children have  never been forced to eat or finish food, it really ticked me when my son looked so worried and apologetic that he could only eat half of his ice cream sundae and was too full to eat the rest.  I was glad that he was eating  to his hunger cues and can't say the same for me, as I ploughed on determinedly with my 'nutty about nuts' long after my body was telling me to give up.