I got so exasperated tonight with the 8yo. She was ready for dinner and I had nothing to make for her. Nothing, that is, except for the peanut butter and crackers I sent to school with her the past two days, or the macaroni and cheese she had for dinner two nights ago. I actually got her to try some ambrosia [oranges, pineapple and cherries, so delicious] and it made her gag. Sigh.
So I had her make a list for me of ALL the foods that she will eat. And she agreed that I can feed her anything off this list at any time, and she will eat it. It’s not that long a list, if it’s your entire diet:
Peanut butter
Pinto beans
Baked beans
Peanuts
Pistachios
Cashews
Pecans
Macaroni & cheese
Biscuits
Spaghetti
Tortillas
Campbell’s Goldfish meatball soup*
Bagels
Honey Nut Cheerios
Cheerios
Graham crackers
Apples
Strawberries
Bananas
Red grapes
Kiwi
Dates
Artichokes
Corn
Potatoes
Peas
Tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Alfredo/cream sauce
Spinach salad**
Yogurt
Frozen yogurt
Cheddar sticks***
Milk
Cream cheese
Croutons
Ranch dressing
As a side note, with the exception of salad with salad dressing and tomatoes, or a tortilla with beans or peanut butter, she eats almost all of these things alone. Meaning, there’s no point in getting creative and making a dish with cream sauce and vegetables….she won’t eat that. She doesn’t eat melted cheese at all, for instance. Lots of traditional ways of combining food? Forget it.
I know, I know, everyone keeps telling me she will grow out of it. All I can tell you is that she started becoming a picky eater around the age of 5, and it has gotten progressively worse since then, dramatically so this year. And not just because she became vegetarian this year — she’s limited herself in lots of other ways, too. She used to eat green beans. Several other cereals. Any kind of cheese we had. Hummus.
Not anymore. Hahaha she tried to get me to put Cheetos on this list. You really don’t want to know my response.
*She knows this has meat in it. She says that is OK, that she is vegetarian about everything else.
**I viewed this as a major concession on her part, for which I am most grateful.
***Apparently these are some mysterious kind of cheese sticks, which I have never bought, but that one of her friend’s mothers feeds her on the way home from dance. I can’t wait to find out what they are, and how close they are to all the other kinds of cheese [and there are many] already in my refrigerator.
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[...] my daily recommended calories in white bread and butter. So I have to pay attention to that. As mentioned here before, the 9yo eats like 20 foods, so I watch her diet closely, [...]
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November 30, 2007 at 11:04 am
Oh, I sooooo look forward to having children.
I have a friend whose son decided to be a vegetarian around the age of seven. She’s asked me for advice, but the kid (now almost 12) is such a picky eater that I’m of no help. He won’t eat any beans or anything that might give him gas, he says. I think he survives on mac & cheese, potatoes, cheese pizza and Ensure.
November 30, 2007 at 12:17 pm
Aaron was a very picky eater until he hit the teen years and now he’ll eat anything that’s not nailed down. Of course, he’s a boy so that may be different.
Give her a good multi-vitamin aimed at kids her age and she’ll be fine.
December 1, 2007 at 9:50 am
I’m sure my mother can feel your pain. And although I’m still a picky eater, it does get better. You’ll just have to be patient and let her come around.
I’ll tell you what though, E is light years ahead of where I was at that age…
April 26, 2008 at 4:57 pm
It seems like a good list to me. Lots of fruits and vegetables. It’s hard to maintain a healthy vegetarian diet with enough B12, so it may be a good thing that she likes the meatball soup.