If you cook a meal and your kids dont like it,do you make something else?

People who run a 'made to order' kitchen or who cater to picky people are causing their own trouble. Whatever my mom cooked for dinner was for EVERYBODY and you didn't get to sit there and whine and not eat it because that was considered RUDE and you don't treat your parents that way. I operate under the same principle. Of COURSE I am not going to cook stuff *I* don't like, so you won't catch me making my kids eat lima beans, but my daughter loves brussel sprouts and broccoli and almost any other type of veggie, so she doesn't create drama and not eat her veggies. She loves fruit too and will eat almost any fresh fruit... she isn't really into canned peaches and pears and fruit cocktail, she does like mandarin oranges and cottage cheese though. My rules are this - if you are part of my family or plan on eating with me, don't be rude. I don't make 'other options' for people. You need to try something before you can claim 'you don't like it'. I remember when my daughter was an infant, her pediatrician told me that sometimes it can take 30 times of trying a new food for a child to 'like' it... but that doesn't mean the first 29 times means they actually don't like it, and you should keep trying for awhile. This makes sense since it can take 30 days to form a new habit and begin doing it automatically. My daughter was never a picky eater though BECAUSE she ALWAYS ate whatever we did! Yes, on occasion I did make her an alternative, like the time we made her some hot wings WITHOUT sauce because she was 18 months old and we thought it was too spicy. She got into my bowl and ate my sauce. She liked salad when she was little, tomatoes, avocado, cucumber, onions. She's 8 now and loves seafood and steak, chicken, pork, everything. She's not big on bread, sometimes she will eat everything off a burger or sandwich and leave the bread but I don't mind as long as she eats a few bites of it. I would NEVER tolerate another person undermining my expectations at dinner time. Like I said, some people will make a nice dinner for themselves and spouse and then turn around and feed the kids mac & cheese and chicken nuggets?! WHY? How will you ever expose your children to all the huge assortment of wonderful things out there if you just assume they don't/won't like it so just make sure you make them something they WILL eat? Besides, if kids are actually hungry, eventually they will eat what's there. I've had kids at my house whose parents swear they won't touch fruit at home or hate raw veggies but guess what? If my daughter is having an orange or berries or gets carrot sticks and dip out of the fridge, guess who else has a snack right along with her? Yep, the picky friend who 'never eats stuff like that at home'.

I don't have any kids myself, but my mom would always say, "This isn't a restaurant." I'd eat what I was given or I wouldn't get dinner. That was it. If you make them something else every time, they then believe all they have to do is whine and they can have something they want (i.e. junk food).

Nope. If my brother and I didn't like a meal, then my grandmother and my mother did not make another meal for us. We had to eat what they fed us. Even though it seemed like my mother and grandmother made a lot of money or had a lot of money in those days, they really didn't, and we had to eat what was given to us. Here is the thing though, your children's eating habits are usually similar to yours and/or your husband's. Whatever you and your husband love, the children will probably love it, but also ask yourself, what did you and your husband like to eat at their age? That knowledge will help out when it comes to feeding them. You definitely do need to make sure that they get their fruits and vegetables. My grandmother had Anemia, and my brother and I used to always wonder why she fed us so many greens and cook on an iron skillet? She did it because she didn't want us to have it too. My grandmother became Anemic during the Great Depression. My brother and I loved our greens because of our grandmother, and because we didn't want the condition that she had.

Yes I do make them eat it. I do not have the money to cook a million things they don't want to eat. I do though usually make sure there is at least one thing they will all like. That said by trying so many different foods and to make them eat it they do like a wide variety. I also have found if they help me cook they will eat even stuff the say they don't like.

Hello :). I usually cook things everyone likes, but there are times when the little children of my family act spoiled, specially my nephews, and what I do is I don't force them to eat it, but I don't make anything else either. I just tell them (not angry or anything) that we should learn to eat everything, because one never knows when something bad will be the only thing we have, and I put the food they left in a microwave plate. Since I keep the snacks in the high cabinets they can't eat anything, and when they get hungry they have to eat what was cooked. Spoiling kids too much can lead them to believe, wrongly, that they are more important than others, which in the end will cause them a lot of troubles in life. Of course, having a grandparent around giving them sweets can mess up your plan, but just don't get angry with the brats, since they will start to believe they have control over you and that can end badly. You could also try to ask them to explain why they don't like it, that way they either think and in the end accept the food, or achieve an acceptable reason which is better for their minds and your patience :).

Well, we cook meals everyday. And sure sometime we get the same situation like you. However, if kids don't like it, i also wont cook another dish at that time. Kids should learn how to appreciate who cook meals for them. I wont force they eat. If they don't like, they can eat it lesser than normal or choose another dish on a table. And I may not cook that dish later any more.

We were trained enough to eat what's on the table. No questions asked. But you know how kids are, we have been kids, and we're all picky eaters. I guess it takes a willful mother or a grandparent to force us to eat what is good for us. I don't know about the training the grandmother has but grandparents tend to spoil their grandkids. My parents didn't spoil us. They'd feed us whatever was on the table. My grandparents tended to spoil us but since we don't live with them, it's a welcome change for my parents. However, now that it's their turn to be grandparents they are spoiling the grandkids! hehehehe.. I guess the cycle is always like that. Have a great MyLot experience ahead!

I don't have kids yet but growing up it was like this. I was supposed to try the food and eat a little bit of it. If I didn't like it I gave it to someone else. At my mom's house I usually always got food I liked, and if I remember correctly if I didn't like it I still had to eat it or fix something else for myself (When I got old enough to do this). When it comes to my niece and nephew they are VERY picky eaters. I think my niece is picky sometimes just because her brother is. In any case when I make something and I want them to try it I tell them they HAVE to try it and if they don't like they don't like it but they can't just say no. I make sure they eat more then just a nibble. Also if it's something that can be enhanced by a dipping sauce or the such I offer it and tell them to try it like that.

I don't have children yet, but I can tell you that there will not be separate meals cooked when I do unless it is an issue of allergies. I cook beautiful, healthy, organic, vegetarian meals. The kids may eat as little or as much as they like--or not at all. They will have a role in the food prep from an early age, so, hopefully, they will feel invested in the dishes that are placed on the table. Children are not born hating fruits and veggies, nor do they enter this world craving the garbage that is marketed for them. Their eating habits are developed based upon what their parents (or, in this case, grandparents) feed them.

I always made my family eat what I cooked. There were something that I never cooked because I knew noone likes them and I could do something else. Now, with my grandchildren, we have a deal since they were very small. Every time I cooked something new, they had to eat at least two mouthfulls before stating whether they liked it or not. If they didn´t, I would give them something else (until the next time that food was cooked where they had to eat the 2 mentioned mouthfuls). Now they all love my food.

I was lucky because I wasn't too picky... or well, I was kind of picky, but my menu didn't consist of junk food, or not entirely. So I don't know the feeling. That's why I say I wouldn't force stuff down my kid's throat they don't like... but I don't have kids, so I may get one who only wants to eat chocolate, and then I would change my mind... Right now I would say that as long as I'm not totally exhausted and there's something more on the healthy side he would eat, I'd do it.