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I think younger children should have to at least try everything once since tastes can change. I don't think they should get special separate meals but it is fair to let them pour their own bowl of cereal if they completely dislike a meal.
I hate the idea of being forced to eat something you don't like. If someone tries something multiple times and they absolutely hate it, then what is the point of forcing them to eat? As a child I hated mushrooms and I still can't stand them! I also don't believe in making kids clean their plates as a principle, although if they want dessert they shouldn't leave any food!
I think it depends. If the child is picky about *everything*, then the kid can eat or go to bed hungry. It is too time consuming to try to work around a child's picky eating habits when you have other kids, work, etc. to think about. But if it is just a few foods, then the child should not have to eat it. I hated seafood (except for shrimp) as a kid, so my mom would bake a single piece of chicken or meat patty for me while everyone else ate fish. It worked.
I don't remember my parents having a "clean our plate policy". I do however, remember being forced to drink milk at dinner & having to drink it all!
Now, I know as a kid it felt like my parents were making me drink the entire gallon of milk, in reality, it was one of those little tupperware cups. Probably about 4oz!
I still despise white milk, but have a glass of skim every day because I know I should.
Today, with our children, I do the same. They have to finish their milk because it is the only time they really have it. One of my daughter's won't eat any cheese or yogurt and refuses to drink any kind of juice. So, the calcium fortified oj,etc... are not an option. She drinks water all day. Not a bad thing, but she needs to drink the milk for obvious reasons.
I don't make them finish everything on their plates, but they do have to try everything.
Lol...NYMD! We had to drink a glass of milk with every meal, too! I am glad, though, because it's an important calcium building time in your life...but boy, did I hate it with a passion!
I don't think kids should be forced to eat an entire meal of what they absolutely hate...that's just mean and silly; however, a lot of times, kids are more picky just because of their mood that day or something and I'm not willing to entertain that nonsense. Then they can take their saucy arses up to their rooms and go without dinner.
I am pretty chilled out about what the kids eat, of course my boys are the weird ones who like salads and veggies, none of them care for onions, so I usually don't use them much. If someone does not like what we are having they are welcome to heat up leftovers, make themselves a sandwich or a bowl of cereal. I am another one who does not subscribe to making a child eat everything on their plate.
I'm quite similar. My daughter will eat raw spinach and love it. There are things that she doesn't like but I ask that she try new things and she will. There are things that she's tried that she doesn't like and others that she's loved. If she doesn't like something she can make something different for herself.
In our home, it was, "This is dinner....eat it or not....but this is what's for dinner." Occasionally one was not hungry and their plate would be put in the fridge to heat up later. I didn't have picky eaters, not for long. It never occurred to them to not eat what was put in front of them. After they became teens, once in a while, they might not be "in the mood" for what we were having for dinner, so they'd make themselves something else (rarely).
Honestly though, I never made overly seasoned foods, always cooked good foods from scratch, and my kids were raised on home-grown vegetables, etc. Our foods always had really good flavors....their parents like GOOD food and our kids were exposed to a huge variety of different foods. The only real complaints my children had about food were about school lunches. Several days per week they would come home starving, because there were only a few foods which they considered edible there. When the schools had a salad bar, the kids were thrilled, because they were huge salad fans. Unfortunately, due to "vandalism" by other students, they had to discontinue the salad bar option.
The other day my boyfriends' daughters were having confessing.. They told us that one day their mom made something they didnt like..so they hid it under the fridge...it was funny..their dad said..I thought it was the dog who made the mess..
It was pretty hilarious I think it was squash
With the exception of delicata and stirfried zuchini & crookneck squash (cooked only until slightly tender)...squash is not eaten in my house. Neither my husband or I like winter squash/mashed squash...and I was forced to eat it as a child, in spite of the fact that it made me throw up...seriously, it was a huge texture thing. I couldn't stand overly cooked vegetables, and still don't and my mother cooked them to a mush. Gaaaagh. Perhaps mine weren't terribly picky because I took such care with how I cooked their foods? LOL....and did not make the things that grossed me out? LOL
My kids don't have to eat anything they don't like. I don't make them something special either but I can't see why you would force kids to eat food they don't like. There is nothing that special about any one food that you need to make it a matter of life or death.
So if you cook meatloaf, carrots, and mashed potatoes and they say they don't want it, do you send them away with no dinner? I think that's the OPs point ---- the parents making 3 different meals because the kids don't want this or won't eat that. It's crazy.
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