(no subject)

[charlottezweb]

Dang it, I forgot to post yesterday.

Let's see, Wednesday...

1. The offspring was bitten by two fire ants at the same time while he sat on the couch. Yeah, the inside couch. Turns out there was some food yuckiness under the couch that the ants had invaded to get to. We had to move the couch to poison the floor and then mop. I think we got all of them. Bleah.
2. Went to Earthfare for all kinds of tastiness, including humane chicken, so I don't have to feel guilty about making chicken and spaghetti, thai ingredients, and an awesome ginger ale I'd never had.
3. Had to go to Red Top to pick up deer corn and fish meal (for shrimping) so we snagged Hippy for lunch at The Tomato Shed Cafe. Mmmmmmm. Squash casserole, crab cake sandwich and tomato pie.

4. People are so weird about what my child eats. At the cafe, I asked if it was ok if we ordered him a two veggie plate, as they only had a 5 veggie plate on the menu. The owner said that was fine but also started giving me this list of other things I could order for him--grilled cheese, pb & j, etc. I told her that he would be perfectly happy with veggies and ordered him glazed carrots and mac and cheese, mentioning that he would also eat some of my and the partner's sides.

He loved them (as he always loves veggies) but as we were leaving the owner said goodbye to the baby and asked if he'd eaten anything. ?!? I said that he had cleaned his plate and she was surprised.

This is not unusual. In the mountains this weekend, people were commenting in one place because he was eating brocolli--it's one of this favorite foods, people. At Wild Wings the other day, we ordered the veggies with his meal and the waiter kept telling us he could have fries. Thanks, but he'd rather have something else.

I hate that a typical kid's menu has the same things--chicken fingers/nuggets, grilled cheese/quesadilla, ham/cheeseburger, hot/corndog, and a pb & j. Sometimes there's something else--fried fish or fried shrimp for example.

Most ethnic places (thai, mexican, indian) have smaller versions of regular dishes on the kids menu--baby burrito, noodles, etc. I really wish more restaurants did that--my son doesn't want a grilled cheese all the time but he would want a baby shrimp and grits or a small moules frite or escargot. That's one of the reasons I like eating at meat and 3 places--he can get all the veggies he wants.

I know that there are genuinely picky kids out there, and I'm not talking abt them, but sometimes, when parents say that there kid won't eat anything but chicken fingers, I want to say that maybe that's because that's what they're used to eating.

Wow, I hadn't planned on ranting when I started this. OK, rant over.

Comments

[bethzebra.livejournal.com]

My son, who's five, recently spent the weekend eating mostly restaurant food - we weren't traveling exactly but we were spending a lot of time at a hotel for a conference so he ate at sports bar type places for three straight days, which meant a steady diet of hot dogs, chicken fingers, and all the other stuff that ALWAYS shows up on the kid's menu. On the last day he wouldn't eat his lunch, which was a sports-bar burger, so when we were on our way home I suggested stopping for a snack at Whole Foods on our way so I could also pick up dinner. He led me straight to the salad bar and picked out a plate of celery, cabbage, garbanzo beans, spinach leaves, egg salad, and grapes, and inhaled the whole thing. Poor guy was just starved for something fresh. I don't know why restaurants don't offer small portions of adult meals as an option, or allow for the possibility that not all kids want the same thing for every meal.

[pperiwinkle.livejournal.com]

I thought mac and cheese was, like, the Universal Kid Food, something they all like, and it has cheese and milk so it's good for them.

My nephew was given lots of unusual fruits and veggies when he was little, so he likes those, too. He loves sea weed salads and goat cheese pizzas. I don't know if anyone ever comments on what he's eating when they're out, but I know he doesn't like things like chicken fingers, and snacks happily on things like cantaloupe and avocado.

Good on you for giving you little guy choices!

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, yes. Add in trying to make sure she doesn't eat cow's milk and I just don't even bother looking at kids menus - she just gets some of our food or a suitable side (hummus is very popular.)