As Benevolent Dictator reaches five months old, the discussion of starting her on solid food has begun in our household. The first thing we start her on is rice cereal -- and nothing else. That's to make sure she doesn't have food allergies. Not to mention, she'd still be getting the majority of her meals from the boobies (or as I like to put it, Tapper #1 and Tapper #2).
But as she gets older, I've started mulling over what kind of eater she'll be. My biggest fear is that she'll grow older and be just a picky eater. Now, I know that most kids are picky eaters. That's just what being a kid is about -- there's a certain fear of trying new things.
Which is why parents will try anything at times to get their kids to eat veggies -- even hide them in other dishes like meatloaf, chicken nuggets and even brownies. Hence, the creation of Deceptively Delicious -- a cookbook that shows parents how to hide veggies in things such as chicken nuggets, pancakes and brownies.
Now some people have slammed the book saying that we shouldn't have to deceive our kids into eating their veggies. Me? I'm holding off judgment right now. It's hard to say what you will or won't do as a parent until you get there sometimes.
My fear is that BD will grow into fussy eater who doesn't like to try new things, hates her veggies and thinks that sushi is high-priced bait. I really don't think that will happen given that her mom is a pretty adventurous eater. But I figure there is going to be a time where she'll want only carrots, mashed potatoes and other things that make her look like the product of a British boarding school.
Depending on how strong her will is (and how exhausted I am), maybe she'll be forced to eat squash in its natural state or peas that aren't disguised in something else. Maybe I'll have to resort to hiding stuff in spaghetti or meatloaf. I hope not. But I figure no matter what, I'm not going to disguise veggies in brownies. There's just something weird about making something as decadent as a brownie healthy. Even I know that's not right.
1 comment:
I would say BD will have plenty of adventurous eating ahead of her with you as her mom. And all kids are different. I know of at least three younguns who will get down on some indian food, sushi, whatever with the quickness. And as a child I started eating anything put in front of my from about 2 years old. It's all about the personality I think.
And that book seems strange to me in that the deception thing seems like it would backfire. My grandma was all "I made this and now you're going to eat it!" My sister was the picky one, and I think even she ate her veggies - because she had no choice.
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