# Parents, do me a favor, quit raising your kids so damn picky! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347 "2010-08-15T19:04:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/101 "2010-08-17T02:10:08Z")
> [@amarone](#): > > I read somewhere that if a kid repeatedly tries something they don’t like, they will get to like it after about 15 times. So when we give our son something new and he says he doesn’t like it, I say “well, eat some of it and then you only have another 14 times to go”. > > This is not sadism - we simply do not want to either restrict ourselves to the very limited diet he claimed to like or to cook separately for him. And you know what - it works - often after far fewer than 15 times. The number of things he likes or at least doesn’t mind is now much broader. I did this with my SO’s little sister. Kid only eats white carbs with the exception of wheat bread and general shit food; only vegetable is carrots, thought she eats some fruits. So what do I do? The kid likes money, which I discovered one soccer game when she offered to go to my car down the block and get my book for 50 cents. When we watched them for 3 days while SO’s mom was at a work conference, I paid her $5 to eat whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta. She ate it 3 times with me and twice with her mom (I paid her to eat it 5 times total, we agreed, so she ate it when her mom returned). Bam, kid now eats wheat pasta and perhaps she won’t get type II diabetes down the road. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/102 "2010-08-17T02:24:09Z")
I never get why people think that white bread/pasta is the devil. I never eat whole wheat, but I don’t think I’m putting evil in my body. ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/103 "2010-08-17T02:26:50Z")
Spikes your blood sugar, increases insulin resistance, and has less fiber and nutritious overall. lots of info out there on it, but [Consumer Reports post](http://blogs.consumerreports.org/health/2010/06/white-rice-is-nice-but-brown-may-be-better-for-diabetes-risk-.html) anyways. Plus, the kid would eat multiple bowls of it. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/104 "2010-08-17T02:37:08Z")
Eh. I’m off to eat a huge bowl of white bread pasta. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/105 "2010-08-17T02:39:15Z")
Well, it’s not “the devil” any more than whole wheat stuff is “the angel” or whatever. It’s just that the whole-wheat stuff is somewhat more nutritious for you. The fact that someone else’s kids are being encouraged to eat whole-wheat products should not in any way discourage anybody from eating giant bowls of white pasta, if that’s what they’re inclined to do. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/106 "2010-08-17T03:03:50Z")
I ate white pasta and I’m neither overweight, nor am I diabetic. (The only diabetic in the family is my grandmother, and it’s from old age. And she’s tiny little old lady) ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/107 "2010-08-17T03:12:35Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > > [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > > > So one boy lives on Mac n cheese, the other boy’s a vegetarian, a third doesn’t like mayo…in a sleepover situation, I could end up making 6 different meals. > > Since mac & cheese does not feature mayonnaise or meat, I think you’d be OK serving it to all three boys you mention. 😛 > > Also, I totally sympathize with the mayo-hater, because mayo is gross. The kid didn’t like Mac n Cheese. I’m sure I could have discovered he likes hot-dogs, or pizza, or hot pockets, or pizza rolls, or cheerios, or…but I wasn’t really in the mood to cater. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/108 "2010-08-17T03:22:08Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > Sure, my kids have one or two foods they don’t like…lettuce, raw carrots. > > But the kids my kids bring over are full-on nuts! Don’t like Mac n cheese, don’t like mayo, don’t like PB&J, don’t like string cheese. I just noticed this and am finding it somewhat amusing that the OP finds it normal and unexceptional that his (her?) kids refuse to eat lettuce and carrots, but finds it upsetting and unusual that the sleepover kids don’t like processed/high-fat/high-sugar foods like mac & cheese and mayonnaise, etc. I mean, nothing wrong with including those things in your diet, of course (and yes yes, homemade mac & cheese is clearly superior, blah blah, I’ve heard it), I’m just finding the juxtaposition somewhat funny. I mean, we’re now harshing on kids because they’re vegetarian? Seriously, think about this for two seconds: “I can’t believe this kid is such a picky eater! He’s a vegetarian! Why can’t I just feed him hot dogs like a normal kid?!” ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/109 "2010-08-17T03:38:03Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I ate white pasta and I’m neither overweight, nor am I diabetic. (The only diabetic in the family is my grandmother, and it’s from old age. And she’s tiny little old lady) Well, that settles it then, guys. White pasta doesn’t cause diabetes. End this debate right now. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/110 "2010-08-17T04:16:50Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > > [@Guinastasia](#): > > > > I ate white pasta and I’m neither overweight, nor am I diabetic. (The only diabetic in the family is my grandmother, and it’s from old age. And she’s tiny little old lady) > > Well, that settles it then, guys. White pasta doesn’t cause diabetes. End this debate right now. Well, you got me there. :o (BTW, was I weird kid for liking spinach? I mean, I absolutely loved it. I still do, although I prefer it raw now.) ---
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/111 "2010-08-17T04:45:49Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > (BTW, was I weird kid for liking spinach? I mean, I absolutely loved it. I still do, although I prefer it raw now.) I don’t think so: I liked it even as a baby. Mom has a picture of me eating cooked spinach with both hands and green juice running down my chin… :o :o :o ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/112 "2010-08-17T04:54:06Z")
I think the old saw about kids hating spinach is sort of a leftover from the days when spinach primarily came in a can. Canned spinach is foul. But we use fresh spinach all the time and as far as I can tell, my kids basically just think of it as another type of salad green, no big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/113 "2010-08-17T04:55:28Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > > [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > > > Well, that settles it then, guys. White pasta doesn’t cause diabetes. End this debate right now. > > Well, you got me there. :o > (BTW, was I weird kid for liking spinach? I mean, I absolutely loved it. I still do, although I prefer it raw now.) I loved spinach, brussel sprouts, broccoli…basically any vegetable. I loved liver and onions (My mom was the only other one in the family that did). About the only things I refused to eat were cottage cheese and yams. I didn’t care for bananas, but could tolerate them. Other than that I ate everything. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/114 "2010-08-17T04:56:15Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I think the old saw about kids hating spinach is sort of a leftover from the days when spinach primarily came in a can. Canned spinach is foul. But we use fresh spinach all the time and as far as I can tell, my kids basically just think of it as another type of salad green, no big deal. Actually, this might have been canned spinach. My sister for some reason will only eat canned corn, not frozen. (She’ll eat corn on the cob, I’m talking about niblets) I LOATHE canned corn – I always have. Either way, I adored it. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/115 "2010-08-17T07:07:08Z")
My kid is kind of a picky eater, when I think about it. She won’t eat eggs, cheese (unless it’s in nachos or Kraft mac and cheese) or avocado. She refuses to eat fish unless it’s sushi, but she adores shrimp. She does like meat, milk, steamed rice, and some fruits and vegetables - she loves broccoli with butter or with beef, as it is typically served in many Chinese restaurants. She likes watermelon, apples, Asian pears, grapes, and strawberries, but doesn’t like regular pears and rarely eats bananas or cantaloupes. I think it might be because she’s being raised by people with odd eating habits. I’m lactose intolerant, my mom has high blood pressure and celiac disease (we think - she feels sick every time she eats bread) so her diet is fairly limited, and my dad just has to have Mexican cheese and tortillas with pretty much every meal. There may be something to that theory about how kids prefer the foods their mothers craved while pregnant, I think. When I was pregnant with her, I mostly craved salads and meat, especially grilled steak and chicken, while Taco Bell made me throw up. She loves barbecued meat, and doesn’t like burritos much. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/116 "2010-08-17T11:45:08Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > > [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > > > Sure, my kids have one or two foods they don’t like…lettuce, raw carrots. > > > > But the kids my kids bring over are full-on nuts! Don’t like Mac n cheese, don’t like mayo, don’t like PB&J, don’t like string cheese. > > I just noticed this and am finding it somewhat amusing that the OP finds it normal and unexceptional that his (her?) kids refuse to eat lettuce and carrots, but finds it upsetting and unusual that the sleepover kids don’t like processed/high-fat/high-sugar foods like mac & cheese and mayonnaise, etc. I mean, nothing wrong with including those things in your diet, of course (and yes yes, homemade mac & cheese is clearly superior, blah blah, I’ve heard it), I’m just finding the juxtaposition somewhat funny. > > I mean, we’re now harshing on kids because they’re vegetarian? Seriously, think about this for two seconds: “I can’t believe this kid is such a picky eater! He’s a vegetarian! Why can’t I just feed him hot dogs like a normal kid?!” There’s a difference between ‘I don’t like one or two items’ and 'I don’t like 90% of the things ‘stereotypical american kids’ eat. I’m an unwilling to create an exhaustive list. Such is the way of the internet. Surprisingly, the one or two items I didn’t care for as a kid (mushrooms, baked squash), my kids have no problems with…and they flat LOVE oatmeal…something I didn’t touch as a kid, but I suspect I’d never had it properly prepared. And the one that hates raw carrots, love them cooked (that texture thing again…oh noes, perhaps he’s ADD? :rolleyes: ) ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/117 "2010-08-17T12:24:57Z")
My mother thought I was a picky eater. The only way I would eat dinner is if it covered in cheese, gravy or some other sauce. I used to eat more vegetables when I was picking them out of the garden than at the dinner table. Took me years to realize that she was just a terrible cook and things I thought I hated actually taste pretty darn good when not cooked into leather or mush. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/118 "2010-08-17T13:31:56Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > My mother thought I was a picky eater. The only way I would eat dinner is if it covered in cheese, gravy or some other sauce. I used to eat more vegetables when I was picking them out of the garden than at the dinner table. Took me years to realize that she was just a terrible cook and things I thought I hated actually taste pretty darn good when not cooked into leather or mush. Are you my long-lost sibling?? 😉 I know it’s a stereotype, but I’ve heard many times that Irish cooking is, by and large, flavorless. My Mom was 100% Irish, her parents came over from Ireland, and she was raised in an Irish neighborhood. The only ‘ethnic’ dishes she made were: sauerbraten, 'cuz my Dad was German, and his mother taught my mother to make it (it was actually one of my favorite dinners!), ‘chicken chow mein’, but it was the kind that came in a can with a little can of fried noodles on top :rolleyes:, and ‘spaghetti’, which was browned ground beef in a couple of cans of tomato sauce, a can of tomato paste, and a packet of McCormick’s Spaghetti Seasoning, poured over mushy noodles. So, anyway, all this makes me wonder if there’s maybe a kernel of truth to the stereotype. By the time she was done cooking vegetables, the water she drained into the sink would be greener than the vegetables she was draining! I grew up thinking I hated most veggies, only to find out during the ‘Salad Bar Revolution’ of the '70s that I really like most of them if they are raw or lightly steamed. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/119 "2010-08-17T14:54:24Z")
> [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > There’s a difference between ‘I don’t like one or two items’ and 'I don’t like 90% of the things ‘stereotypical american kids’ eat. I’m an unwilling to create an exhaustive list. Such is the way of the internet. Well, “stereotypical American kids” eat a lot of very non-nutritious crap, so this doesn’t really sound so bad on the face of it. > [@](#): > > And the one that hates raw carrots, love them cooked (that texture thing again…oh noes, perhaps he’s ADD? :rolleyes: ) You seem like a real peach. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347/120 "2010-08-17T15:10:08Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > > [@Unintentionally\_Blank](#): > > > > There’s a difference between ‘I don’t like one or two items’ and 'I don’t like 90% of the things ‘stereotypical american kids’ eat. I’m an unwilling to create an exhaustive list. Such is the way of the internet. > > Well, “stereotypical American kids” eat a lot of very non-nutritious crap, so this doesn’t really sound so bad on the face of it. > > > [@](#): > > > > And the one that hates raw carrots, love them cooked (that texture thing again…oh noes, perhaps he’s ADD? :rolleyes: ) > > You seem like a real peach. Really, I am, it’s just the flash judgments folks make out of a three sentence post. Especially around here. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parents-do-me-a-favor-quit-raising-your-kids-so-damn-picky/550347.md?page=7)