Comments on: The assault (and insult) of children’s menus

By: (No) Judgment Day. Pass it on. | Spoonfed

(No) Judgment Day. Pass it on. | Spoonfed — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 21:17:27 +0000

[...] every other parent ask: “Where’s your kids’ menu?” Which of course had the usual substandard fare. Call me melodramatic, but I wanted to [...]

By: Kiwi article: Have food, will travel | Spoonfed

Kiwi article: Have food, will travel | Spoonfed — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 04:35:50 +0000

[...] will be familiar to those who’ve read my Spoonfed posts about real food on the road and avoiding children’s menus, the article has new stuff as well. Good stuff. Tips, resources, all that. Kiwi magazine [...]

By: Christina

Christina — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 06:30:30 +0000

Sara, no stirring detected (though stirring is always welcome). Sounds like you’ve handled things beautifully.

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:32:19 +0000

ha ha ha – I agree!

By: Sara

Sara — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:27:09 +0000

Marie – Thanks for the encouragement. Sometimes, with the portion sizes at restaurants, I wish I could order my favorite foods in a kids’ size portion!

By: Marie

Marie — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:57:35 +0000

Sara,
What a great and awe-inspiring job you are doing with your son! I cannot imagine the patience that it takes (our challenges are in other areas). The only thing more trying might be trying to expand the limited palette of an adult. ha ha.
I can totally appreciate wanting to make the occasional dinner out be fun and special for all of you. The good news is, I suspect that there are plenty of restaurants that offer fries, nuggets, pasta, etc. And when he is interested / ready / has a new favorite food, hopefully there will also be restaurants that will serve that in a kids’ portion as well.
Happy eating!

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:37:38 +0000

Totally new here, and possibly going to cause a stir with my comment, but here goes a perspective from the other side of the coin. My son is not a child with an adventurous palette. He SCREAMED at every new solid food for the first two years of his life. The goal at that point became this – get him to eat something – anything! – solid and get a base to work from to build up to the whole grains, veggies, fruits, etc. that I prefer. So unfortunately we were a chicken nugget family for longer than I care to admit. But thankfully patience, encouragement, creativity, stern guidance when needed, and as many positive conversations and hands-on learning opportunities with food (involving him in baking, growing our own tomatoes, trips to farmer’s markets, smelling fruits, veggies and herbs at the grocery, reading stories about farmers, etc.) are starting to pay off. He honestly still tests us with nearly every new food but for the most part he knows that he’s not allowed to complain until he’s at least TRIED the new food. His palette has grown to willingly eating a wide assortment of fruits, veggies, cheeses, meats and carbs. We don’t buy chicken nuggets for the house any more. Oddly, his little brain has always KNOWN junk food from healthy food. He never fights us on junk, just on things that are good for him. So on the rare occasion we actually go out, we just welcome the break. To have creativity and not lose our cool on the food front at home requires character-building patience and diligent persistence on our part. It’s nice in a restaurant to just let him enjoy himself, even if it means letting him have the kid’s nuggets, the occasional fry or fruit substitution and juice or milk. We’re usually just all grateful for the opportunity to just be out and build a fun family memory together. We always continue the food lessons when we return home. I’m confident that with our consistency at home, in time, he’ll have an adventurous palette out too.

By: Real food on the road | Spoonfed

Real food on the road | Spoonfed — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 14:51:15 +0000

[...] we started traveling with a little one, though, I needed to think bigger (and beyond the dreaded children’s menu). Which is why I now spend more time packing food than [...]

By: Want kids to eat better? Stop calling them “picky eaters.” | Spoonfed

Want kids to eat better? Stop calling them “picky eaters.” | Spoonfed — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 04:11:06 +0000

[...] parents say OK. But when it comes to food? When a child refuses something new? When a drive-thru or children’s menu is the quickest path to appeasement? That’s when parents throw up their hands and cry picky. Or, [...]

By: Trick or Treasure | Au Coeur

Trick or Treasure | Au Coeur — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 03:44:03 +0000

[...] parties and swimming class and soccer games and the bank and the shoe store and restaurants with kid menus and the grandparents’ house and anyplace else kids set foot, including, of course, school. The [...]