Only Slightly Odd

All kids have a little bit of odd. I find this comforting since my children are proficient with oddities especially in the area of food.

When I recently spent some time with one of my girlfriends, I saw her cutting off the bread crust for one of her children before making him a peanut butter sandwich. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that my children also prefer crust-less bread. I didn’t want to be the only mother who takes time with culinary alterations before feeding her children.

My oldest has a limited diet consisting of pasta, only when it is prepared fresh, burgers, tacos topped with only cheese, and homemade popcorn. She hates Thanksgiving dinner and often eats prior to our going to someone else’s house for dinner. She is limited to three fast food establishments, and whenever we visit a restaurant, she orders chicken strips with a side a french fries, ketchup only.

My oldest eats any and everything; however, he is my high maintenance eater and recurrent muncher. He often requests something crazy like spaghetti and meatballs for breakfast or some other non-traditional item requiring time and effort, and calls for a steady flow of food until he falls asleep. On the occasional restaurant visit, he asks to order the appetizer, man-sized dinner and of course, dessert, while my husband is the one clutching his shrinking wallet.

My middle mister tells me that the chili tastes funny after the sixteenth time I have made the same chili, and snubs his nose as anything which includes the words, “whole grain” “good for you” or “off the beaten culinary path.” His attachment to ice cream borders on fatal attraction, hence the four cavities, and Life cereal and Lucky Charms are the only cereal that he will eat.

My youngest has decided that he no longer likes pizza, anything containing red pasta sauce, or pancakes. He won’t eat rice or noodles without ship loads of butter and salt, eats lunch between lunch and dinner, isn’t hungry for dinner, and then wants dinner before bed time.

Younger children haven't yet mastered the, "It’s not my favorite, but I'll eat it anyway" mindset, and often lock into quirks, oddities, and finicky foibles that only their parents can tolerate, and when toleration works no longer, professional counseling is a must.

I find comfort knowing that every kid has something. While tortilla chips, vanilla ice cream, and strawberries aren’t exactly worthy of the title “dinner,” they falls somewhere in the category of food and I’ll just have to settle for that, and the well known fact that kids are odd.

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