Real talk.
Food aversions are REAL, yo.
My kids are NOTORIOUSLY picky with food.
“They’ll eat when they are hungry.”
Yeah.
Maybe they will…. but maybe they won’t.
When Jonah was two or three, there was a time when he had ZERO preferred foods.
Meaning, he wouldn’t even eat chicken nuggets anymore.
Which was practically the kid’s diet.
He ate NO other foods. Just drank milk.
That was Jonah. And Jonny was the worse of the two.
When he was a baby, The kid was picky with his freaking BREAST MILK. Since he had a cleft palate, he was exclusively bottle fed. He’d “reject” certain “vintages.”
He wouldn’t drink powdered formula. (Only the expensive premixed stuff)
And it’s kind of gone from there.
Like… healthy foods? Pssshhh.
I’ve had to bribe him to eat ice cream.
He only will eat mint Oreos. (Not regular). I bribed him with a Reese’s to get him to eat a bite of ham/cheese sandwich.
Bless his heart, He did it.
And then threw up.
I bribed him with 10 Reese’s to eat a grape tomato.
He did it.
And then threw up.
He gets anxiety whenever he SEES or HEARS someone eating a food he doesn’t like.
Most people can count on one or two hands the number of foods they wont eat. With Jonny, There was a time I could count on one or two hands the foods he WOULD eat.
A McDonald’s happy meal was the HEALTHIEST food he ate. (And of course with a “plain” cheeseburger. and when I say “plain,” I mean only the cheese and the bun. No burger.)
Jonny has improved a bit as he’s gotten older. At least he eats fruit now.
Jonah is better at trying new foods…
But his tastes are pretty fickle. One week he will like apples, and the next week, he won’t touch the things.
So “eating food” is a thing around here.
Like eating healthy is important…
But EATING at all is kinda MORE important.
So with regard to the foods I pack my kids to eat in their lunches…
Yeah…
I pack what they will eat.
And then I feel bad about how it “looks.”
So I will add a few “healthier” options they may have eaten in the past, but I know (with 99% certainty) they won’t touch now.
But hey… at least I’m trying?