I believe that karma is very real, especially when it comes to parenting. For example, Piper is a “good eater.” Since she was old enough to put solids in her mouth (starting at four months because home-girl LOVES to eat), she has been willing to try anything Tye and I have put in front of her. Collards, Thai food, Brussels sprouts, calamari. You get the picture. And with that willingness, we’ve accrued a good bit of parenting praise. “My child won’t eat anything – how do you get her to eat that?” To which we’ve always replied with much gusto, “Oh, we’ve just never catered to the usual toddler spread (nuggets, nuggets, and mac & cheese) and we’ve always encouraged her to eat what WE eat. We’re not raising a picky eater.” OH, aren’t we just AmAzInG? Bravo, bravo. Good for us. Gold stars and trophies and medals for Adrianne and Tye. Bowing. Curtsying. Whatever.
Guess what? Our second child entered the world. Nash ONLY eats scrambled eggs. He will eat eggs for three meals a day. He will eat them in a boat. He will eat them with a goat. He will eat them in the rain and in the dark and on a train. Nash and Sam-I-Am would be kindred spirits.
Occasionally, he’s willing to eat nuggets from Chick-fil-a, from the freezer shaped like a dinosaur, and banana slices but we don’t push our luck.
Nash will not eat anything that I put in front of him. Last night, I even despairingly put a bite-size-swallow-safe piece of dinner in his mouth to encourage acceptance and he STILL promptly spit it out. I’ve resorted to treating feeding my son like sneakily giving a dog a pill. You know what they say about desperate times…
So eggs for every meal it is. At least for now. Now I’m “that mom.” That mom who caters to her uber-picky toddler. That mom who is raising that kid who will be ordering chicken nuggets at 18 (Please, God, no). That mom who packs food for her kid in her purse when we go to restaurants because I don’t want to pay for something on the kid’s menu he won’t eat. Hi. I’m Adrianne. I’m raising a picky baby. And this is what I get for greedily taking undue praise for Piper’s most excellent taste in (all the) food.
On a promising note, this week alone (and it’s only Tuesday), I have caught Nash eating: deodorant, candle wax, literally anything he finds in his car-seat, a rubber hair tie, spinach leaves from the trash (a superfood! high five!), toilet paper, cat food, a blue jumbo crayon and Purell. So his palate is diversifying.
My hope is built on nothing less…
PS: If you’re just DYING to know what delicious homemade meal Nash disgustedly SPAT onto the dining room rug, take this one-pan, quick and easy comfort food recipe from Salt & Lavender for a spin. It’s a Myspace top-eight-fave in our house (well, at least among Tye, Pipe and I): Creamy Tuscan Sausage Gnocchi
Adrianne Buckley 