<p>I had also read that studies have shown that “picky” eaters are generally more able to sense small differences in taste than people who claim they like everything. My personal experience is in agreement with this. I know that taste and smell are closely related, and I know I have a <em>much</em> keener sense of smell than my husband! And he’s one of those “I’ll eat anything” kind of people, where as there are certain tastes I just can’t learn to like. For instance I wish I liked yogurt, but I just can’t learn to tolerate the taste of it.</p>
<p>I’m with busdriver11. As a child, I was very very picky. On meat, I wouldn’t eat anything within two inches of a piece of fat. On an apple, I would only eat a one-inch strip around the middle – nothing too close to the ends. Today, my horizons have expanded, but I can’t eat anything that once lived in the water or liver (although DH’s chopped chicken liver is OK). And I suspect I’m not a fan of other organ meats as well, although I’ve never been given an opportunity to find out. I think I can go happily to my grave without that knowledge. :)</p>
<p>Edited to add: That should be, “anything that once lived in the water, or any liver.” Otherwise it sounds like I won’t eat anything that lived in liver. :p</p>
<p>Kids were not allowed to be picky eaters at our house. If they didn’t like something, they could make a peanut butter sandwich. I was not going to be a short order cook and no way would I ever ask someone else to make something different for them. It’s just rude. If they didn’t like what was served when we were out, they could make a peanut butter sandwich when they got home. We have relatives that would bring coolers of food to gatherings because their kids were picky eaters. Those kids still manipulate their parents today :D.</p>
<p>^luckier than i was. I was told to go without if i didn’t eat.</p>
<p>However, i do remember once or twice getting a samwich instead of the main meal. But it was very rare.</p>
<p>SteveMA, I wasn’t a short order cook. My picky son made himself a bean burrito if he didn’t like dinner. At parties he mostly eats bread. He doesn’t fuss - he just won’t eat what he doesn’t like.</p>
<p>I make an exception for a kid we know (actually he’s grown now but we’ve known him since he was little) who is OCD and has eating issues. He is always grateful when I make (or bring to a potluck) some of the few foods he can/will eat. </p>
<p>Other than medical exceptions, or kashrut reasons, I think people should pretty much eat what is in front of them, or quietly eat around the food they can’t abide.</p>
<p>icedragon–the key to my point was “they” made their own…:D. Most everyone has something they didn’t like. Our oldest didn’t like spaghetti, but ate pretty much everything else. The rest of us like spaghetti so he knew that when we had that for dinner, he could make himself something else.</p>
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My kid didn’t like peanut butter. :D</p>
<p>When she got old enough she would make her own food sometimes. For a long time, there were literally only about 8 things she would eat. There were plenty of times she had cereal and milk for dinner.</p>
<p>“There was more than one night my mother made me sit at the table until bedtime because I wouldn’t eat canned peas. What did that accomplish?”</p>
<p>Nothing, but there’s a lot of room between that approach and making sure the child has his hamburger at every meal, restaurant, home, etc. You never make the kid eat anything besides medicine, but you don’t offer/cook/request any special options either. He can eat what is presented or not eat it, as he chooses. When he’s old enough to make his own food, he can do that, but you don’t go out of your way to accommodate pickiness.</p>
<p>The problem is that it’s a pain in the adult’s butt to deal with a hungry (grouchy) 3-year-old. It’s easier to make nuggets that it is to deal with the child when he’s hungry. I’ve experienced it firsthand with my niece – it’ll drive you crazy. But I think it’s worth it. There are plenty of countries where aversions to vegetables, fish, etc. are unheard of, and not just countries where people go hungry (Japan is one). The idea of kids eating only burgers, nuggets, and mac&cheese is pretty much unique to our culture.</p>
<p>
Easy to say, until you have the kid who won’t eat what they don’t like no matter how hungry they get, or they get so worked up about it that if they have to eat something they don’t like they throw it up.</p>
<p>It really is not that big of a deal to cook a portion of something in a different way, or scramble some eggs, or throw a burger on the grill next to the shrimp they won’t eat. It doesn’t require being a short order cook to accommodate.</p>
<p>My D didn’t even like most so-called “kids food” - she wouldn’t eat mac and cheese until she was 14, and wouldn’t eat pasta until she was maybe 12. She won’t eat hot dogs. There was <em>one</em> brand of chicken nugget she would eat. It wasn’t until this year she started eating rice (freshman in college). It just wasn’t worth the drama.</p>
<p>notrichenough–you are missing the point-YOU made it easy on her by throwing a hamburger on the grill or cooking something differently, etc. Kids will eat if they are hungry but your D knew that if she made a fuss, she got what she wanted. Kids are smart that way. If she doesn’t like what is presented for lunch, she waits for dinner. It IS that simple unless there are allergy issues, etc.</p>
<p>I’ve got a outrageous guest/host request (to get off the picky food issue for a minute). My best friends’ son was getting married, in Minnesota, in December. The wedding was from 2-2:30, and the reception started at 5:00. I asked my friend, “What are all your wedding guests supposed to do from 2:30 - 5:00?” She said she didn’t know, but the son and future daughter-in-law wanted to use that time to take photographs. So from 2:30 - 5:00, guests had to entertain themselves…in Minnesota…in the winter…in high heels and wedding attire. I left after the wedding and drove home (1 hour away). Does anyone else think this was rude?</p>
<p>Moccasins, high heels, running shoes…</p>
<p>Don’t mind me, I’m on my own tangent.</p>
<p>cross posted at same time as 50ish, mention of high heels not related</p>
<p>It may be possible that from 2 - 2:30 was the only time that they were able to use the church/temple/facility. And in my area, places that hold receptions don’t begin evening functions until 5pm or later. </p>
<p>We had a similar problem when my son married. There was a delay between the wedding and the reception (although it was less than 2 1/2 hours) due to scheduling issues. The reception place could not accommodate our guests any earlier. Yes, it was a problem but we could not come up with a way around it.</p>
<p>Bookreader: I’m curious as to what your guests did during that time between the wedding and reception. Maybe I just ran out of ideas as I didn’t know anyone in the town nor had any idea on how to kill a couple of hours…I was kind of hurt that the hosts didn’t seem to care that we were left out in the cold, so to speak…</p>
<p>Let’s see Minnesota…winter…couple hours to kill…DRINK! Did anyone show up for the reception sober?</p>
<p>My parents never made me eat anything I didn’t like, we were in the “make yourself a sandwich” camp, and now I kind of wish they had. I made it to my 20s without ever eating any fruit or vegetables and now the texture is so foreign I feel like I am eating plastic and I HAVE to eat them… it would have been nice to have grown up with it rather than trying to undo 20 years of bad habits now.</p>
<p>Happens all the time around here. The last wedding we went wine tasting with friends. Someone else went to Target. We’ve also gone to a sports bar, Mexican bar… You get the idea :)</p>
<p>On the eating thing…</p>
<p>Pediatricians will say “no kid will starve” and if they are hungry, they will eat…so serve them healthy meals from a wide variety from all food groups (all textures etc) and they will be good eaters…</p>
<p>so beyond allergies, it does work.</p>
<p>We did the </p>
<p>“Here is the meal. We are not serving you something bad/poisonous, and we enjoy it, so try it.
If you choose not to eat this meal, you can wait until the next meal.
However there is no snacking between now and the next meal.” </p>
<p>On being a house guest: once we stayed with my longtime BFF and her DH. We had played tourists all day together–yet didn’t stop for supper. We ended up at their place that evening, starving and I thought for sure we’d eat there. Nope. So DH and I went to bed starving. My BFF and her DH had bowls of ice cream after we had gone to bed! Guess I should have packed some granola bars in my carry-on :)</p>
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<p>Where I grew up (working-class suburb of Detroit), the scenario above was quite common. Weddings were usually in the morning (10-noon) and the reception at 5-6 pm. I’ve not attended any weddings like this in recent years, except once. At this wedding, there was a 3-hour gap between the wedding and the reception. (Almost all of the guests were from out-of-town since neither the bride nor the groom was originally from the area.) Following this ceremony, H and I drove to the hotel where the reception was going to be held and went to the bar. It was a large, resort hotel and we sat outside, where we met several couples who were also going to the wedding and waiting for the reception to begin. It was a friendly group and we had a great time.</p>
<p>If I were hosting a wedding where the logistics were such that there was a significant time gap between the ceremony and the reception, I probably would have included suggestions for guests on what they could do in the area during the time between the ceremony and the reception. I don’t think it’s the host’s responsibility to entertain people for an entire day, especially given the costs of hosting a wedding.</p>