A picky eater with non picky kids

How to raise adventurous eaters

Photo by Providence Doucet on Unsplash

I was a super picky eater. I only ate American cheese slices (the kind wrapped in plastic), spaghetti with butter and hotdogs and anything sweet. I was picky like this until my mid 20s! Food was a source of stress in my life and anxiety dealing with adults when I was a child. They were always trying to get me to eat. When I was older, I became curious where my picky eating had come from. I did lots of research and figured out some patterns. When I had my children, I was determined to raise them to be fearless of food. My husband and I used my experiences as a child with food and came up with some strategies we implemented as soon as they began eating solid food. Boy did it work! And honestly, it was relatively easy. My twins, now 16 are the most adventurous eaters I’ve ever known and have been since they were babies. They also love food and love cooking. Even as teenagers, they lean towards healthy foods because they understand what healthy eating does for them. Don’t get me wrong, they eat plenty of cheetos, soda and sweets-they are teenagers. But they also make salads for lunch, avocado toast for breakfast and love to grill local vegetables.

I want to write this substack to share with parents and caretakers of babies, toddlers and children of any age, the tips and tricks my husband and I used to raise our adventures eaters. There were very specific things we did for many years and I think anyone feeding a child can use these same tools to avoid or end a picky eating habit.