our taste grows up, give the picky eaters some time...

As I watch M eschew (not chew) peanut butter, eggs, nuts, and pizza, I feel a small hint of the impatience families feel when their children like a limited variety of foods. M has recently discovered she likes tuna salad, and lettuce after years of neutral exposures.It got me thinking about things I like as an adult that I hated as a kid. Here is a sampling from  my list:

• red cabbage• pickles (hated 'em, now love extra pickles on burgers and sandwiches) I think this was due to a scratch and sniff dill pickle sticker that was so rancid I thought that's what they tasted like...• mayo (I was a Miracle Whip girl until fairly recently, now I enjoy both)• most cheeses (I was in my 20's before I started to appreciate cheese, and probably my 30s before the more stinky versions like Stilton were a hit.)• red wine• coffee• I didn't try sushi until my mid-twenties, or Thai food, or Vietnamese food and love them all

Things I still don't like:

• oysters and other raw things like eel, scallops (i love raw fish on hand-rolls, but not alone)• cottage cheese• liver (actually, I liked this as a kid, and don't like it now)• pretty much all beer• the combo of chocolate and fruitI'm sure there are more, but my point is, many of these things I didn't like or even try until well beyond my teen years. What is critical is creating the environment where kids feel good about food in general. Where they feel like they can like or not like a food, where they are not pressured, bribed or praised for liking a food, where the impetus comes from within.My friend recently shared a story about her notoriously picky daughter and recalls the fights all through grade-school until college. The girl would often eat a bowl of cereal over a home-cooked meal. When she left for college she felt like she was missing out, and without having to prove anything to anyone, or "lose face" and try a vegetable, her palate expanded to what is now a fairly adventurous diet. When she would come home from school, Dad would remark, "What, you like X now? How come you never liked it when we served it?" What does the now-woman say to that? "It annoyed me. Made me want to just march in a get myself a bowl of cereal..."So, have patience. When I think of the process of learning to like new foods, I think it's true that you can really slow that process down for kids, but you can't really speed it up. Serve a variety of foods that you want to eat as a family, support the Division of Responsibility in feeding, and see what happens. Don't worry too much if your kid doesn't eat squid. Maybe she will, maybe she won't, but chances are she will seek out variety when the pressure is off.What foods did you learn to like growing up?