Best Food Blog Ever - Latest Comments in Setting the Table for Three

Re: Setting the Table for Three

Ivan Maminta — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 16:46:26 -0000

I can definitely relate. My daughter turned 5 this year, and as expected, she has already developed the penchant to be picky when it comes to food. Since her birth I have been giving her all the sensory experiences when it comes to food, and lately it has been a little more difficult. But it is still doable. I take advantage of her developing motor skills and here mounting curiosity in the world, I engage her whenever I cook. This teaches her about how dishes are made, and she ends up more than willing to try out new stuff.
Do not mention about the toys before the act. This is like bribing and may encourage her to act accordingly when she wants something later in life. She would be the next best thing to be passionate about. And it is really great that you would want her to experience everything beautiful about food. Because that is what I do with my little Maxine. Hope this helps.

Re: Setting the Table for Three

Fred Ashby — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:08:30 -0000

I couldn't agree more with Elizabeth's comments. Introduce your children to a variety of foods and make fast food a treat when you are traveling and they are young. Eat dinner together at night at the table and no TV. And believe me you will soon want to turn back the clock because they grow up too fast.

Re: Setting the Table for Three

emarieg — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:49:37 -0000

Congratulations!! What an exciting time!
My husband is a mildy "fussy" eater. I am more a little bit more of an adventurous eater. Our personalities are pretty different. Interestingly, out of our four children, two are more like him and two are more like me. The eating habits seemed to be linked to the personalities - the more finicky of the children carry more of my husband's personality and the more adventurous eaters carry more of mine. Obviously, they were all raised more or less the same.
My advice about how to behave around food with the children is this. Always welcome them in the kitchen as assistants, never make the table a battleground with rewards and punishments and always eat together as a family (with NO TV). There - take from that what you will and have a wonderful healthy baby girl!

Re: Setting the Table for Three

Katharine — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:11:58 -0000

My parents exposed me to a broad variety of food, and I'm a food nut today.

My husband's niece is now 18 and grew up on chicken nuggets. She's a nice person, but her palate is about as varied as the McDonald's menu. We took her to an Indian restaurant, and she barely ate anything -- some naan, some plain rice, and I think a few bites of chicken.

I'm just saying that from my anecdotal experience, I'd err on the side of nurture. :)