Picky eating isn’t always a choice. I know there’s probably a lot of people who would disagree with this statement, but I really feel this, especially due to an experience I recently.
The Spirit is Willing, but the Body is Weak
My wife had just made dinner--tonight it was spaghetti squash. Squash is always one of those things that my inner five-year old says “yuck!” to, but I wasn’t quite sure if I had actually tried it before. But, while I didn’t really want to eat it, I decided I was going to. I’m an adult, I thought to myself. Time to toughen up and eat like one. So I sat down to eat.
I stared at my helping of squash, my hands not seeming to listen to my brain telling them to move. I finally convinced my hands to pick up the fork and scoop up some squash. Getting that scoop from the plate to my mouth was even harder than picking up the fork. Apparently five-year old me was more in control than I wanted to admit. But still, being the adult I am, I shoved the forkful in my mouth and chewed and swallowed.
The squash had a slightly strange texture, but that was really the only thing I could consider unpleasant. It tasted all right, the smell wasn’t bad, and it seemed to be the right tenderness. But, do you know what the most shocking thing to me was?
I wanted to get that squash as far away from me as I could.
I was baffled. I recognized that the taste wasn’t bad at all. While it didn’t compare to a nice, juicy steak or anything like that, it was fine. There should have been no reason for me to stop eating the squash, but I couldn’t do it. Something inside me rejected that squash like a badly matched kidney transplant, and I don’t even know what it was!
I ate a few more bites to try and convince myself that this food was safe and edible, but my mouth didn’t listen. In the end I apologized to my wife because I just couldn’t eat it. Not that I didn’t want to, or that I had been unwilling, but I felt sure that if I forced one more bite down then my body would forcibly eject it.
Don’t Worry, There’s Still Hope
I don’t know what it is that causes this automatic rejection. I wish I did so that I could turn it off. But this wasn’t the first time that I had experienced it.
(Bear with me for a minute if you’ve read my first post, this is the same story, just a bit more detailed.)
For my entire childhood I refused to eat my potatoes in a form that wasn’t fries or chips. When I got to high school I decided to eat some potatoes in an effort to diversify my diet. When I got those mashed potatoes from school I was set on eating them, but my hands and mouth disagreed. I couldn’t get the fork halfway to my mouth without a thousand warning bells sounding off in my head. I eventually tossed the potatoes because I just couldn’t eat them.
A few years later I was heading down to live in Argentina for a couple years as part of a proselyting mission for my church. I was worried about different foods that I might be offered and how I might offend someone if I didn’t eat what I was given. I remember that one of the first foods I was offered was mashed or boiled potatoes mixed with some other things. I stared those potatoes down and took a bite.
And they were delicious!
I don’t know what switch had been flipped but suddenly I could eat potatoes. I started eating them mashed and boiled and baked and whatever form I could eat them in. At the end of my time in Argentina my parents took me out to eat at a restaurant and I had mashed potatoes. My dad just couldn’t believe it. Now I look back and can’t remember why I disliked potatoes before, but I remember that experience of not being able to eat them.
Unfortunately the advice I have for you this time is the same as what I’ve said before. Be patient. Also, please don’t assume that the child isn’t trying. Being a picky eater can be difficult at times, for more reasons than one. But, I’ll save that story for another time. For now, just remember that it’s not necessarily a choice to be picky, it just happens.
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