I am pretty proud of the fact that my kids are not finicky eaters. My son stays over at friends’ houses all the time, and their parents are in awe at what he eats. Brussels Sprouts, Asparagus Spears, pretty much anything put in front of him. He has his limits, however, but they are ridiculously mundane foods. He eats potatoes, Miracle Whip and Mayonnaise, but will not eat potato salad. Weird huh?
We frequent Dim-Sum establishments (’cause Dim-Sum’s just yummy) and have our fill of eclectic dishes. One dish I always order is the Crispy Fried Shrimp (Head, tail and all). My son’s favorite part of the meal – you guessed it – the SHRIMP’s EYEBALLS! Don’t ask me when he started doing it. It’s happened for as far back as I can remember. Once he even asked the waitress for nothing but a plate of eyeballs. The waitress was quite perplexed and had the manager come over because she thought her English was lacking and she misunderstood the request. We all had a good laugh.
My daughter called me the other day and recounted her day’s events to me. She was taken to a new restaurant by her friend’s family. They were unfamiliar with the fare and did the normal wrinkling of their noses while reading things from the menu. My daughter was familiar with the type of restaurant and already had her choices made. She ended up ordering for the family and everyone ended up happy with her choices. She was so proud of herself, and the grownups were in awe of her adventurous spirit and her knowledge of the fare. I was proud of her too.
Kids learn what they live, and if they see their parents scooting peas or broccoli off their own plate because they don’t like it, then the kids feel it’s OK to do the same. I can’t stand Guacamole because where I come from we used to eat Avocados as a fruit. In fact Avocado Ice Cream was quite popular. I still force myself to eat Guacamole when it is presented to me for no other reason than to show my kids that “Daddy will try it again even if he probably won’t like it”.
I am saving up to be able to take my family on a real vacation (somewhere out of the country, and preferably on the other side of the world). It’s going to be so cool to be able to experience a new culture and cuisine together, oh and “Hold the eyeballs please!”.
My oldest daughter loves taunting my mother-in-law with eyeballs from her toys, just to see her reaction.
Nothing like a nice plate of eyeballs to get the day off on the right foot. I think you make a great point, kids will emulate what they see. I have a co-worker whose kids eats hommous and tabbouleh and garlic sauce, etc…they are 4 and 6. Then there is my brothers’ girlfriend, she’s 36….she wouldn’t even eat my stuffing at Thanksgiving because it had celery and onions in it. She brought her own. Apparently her mother used to feed her like they lived in a restaurant. I think learning these things helps a person to socialize better. Kudos to you for being a great teacher!
@SWC,
I can’t stand having to deal with people’s hang-ups. I understand that as kids our palates are still adjusting to new flavors etc., but when grownups display the same dislike for some foods it makes them look childish. That being said, there are 1 or 2 things that I would rather not have to eat, but an aversion to ONIONS! Come on! Onions are in damn near everything.
Those whole fried shrimp are so good. The head (yes, eyeballs and all) is the best part. I make them at home too. Your son is onto something. He has good taste!
@BusyDad,
They are good, aren’t they? Spicy fried squid is good too.
It’s amazing. My husband grew up being a picky eater. The only veggies he was ever fed were corn and green beans. I grew up eating everything, from okra to turnip greens. (Okay, so my parents were raised by southern parents, even though we’re from the midwest.) My first son will eat a lot of different stuff, though he draws the line on some things. My daughter will eat anything…literally anything…except hot dogs. Weird. And then there’s my little guy. He’s a picky one, but we’re working on it. I try to expose them to everything, though…it’s good for them! Oh, and now my husband will also eat broccoli, squash, and peppers! Great post…sorry about the long comment. lol
@Karen C.
Keep working on the little guy.
It sounds like your husband is finally seeing the light.
Got here through Blog Catalog and I like it here.
You like Dim Sum? Hey, I’m in Hong Kong and this IS the place for it. Anyway, I eat almost anything as well probably because I’m a small eater. Bit here and bit there. But I don’t think I will have the stomach for exotic foods like snakes for instance. It’s a delicacy for the Chinese, by the way!
I am glad to say my kids try anything. They eat what we put in front of the or go hungry. They like just about everything we feed them and oddly the more typical fare seems to be the stuff they like least and the more challenging fare is more easily consumed…go figure, you just can’t show prejudice the feed on that…or won’t feed because of it.
@Joe,
Ditto on the eat what’s there or go hungry rule. That’s how we roll. Ditto too on the challenging fare being more popular.
I admire you for recognizing the importance of good eating. I have step daughters who eat almost nothing that isn’t “kid food.” They are slowly increasing, but it is a challenge.
@Sophie,
My wife and I try to keep things pretty balanced, regardless of whether is pertains to education, nutrition, family, faith (not in any particular order of course
), etc. I like to think of ourselves as pretty well adjusted, and well rounded. The way I see it, If we are picky, we can’t fault our kids when (not “if”) they turn out that way
Thanks for the comment.
@Tot’s mom,
I’m glad you like our little blog. Welcome!
I’ve had Snake once before. Didn’t mind it at all. Reminded me of fish.
I had a layover in Hong Kong once and only had airport food. I’ll have to make it a destination someday.