Thank God for Picky Eating

The Times has a new article on the genetic link that causes picky eating. There's even a word for it "food neophobia." All I can say, is thank God for this at the moment. It means that my kid who can not eat anything that contains wheat, oats, barley, spelt or rye (ie, just about EVERYTHING any other child might be eating at a given time) never feels left out. He doesn't want to go outside of his five foods. It makes his celiac disease about a thousand times more manageable. If we go somewhere with a huge spread, I don't have to worry about him sampling the bagels. He'll usually go straight for the grapes because he knows he likes them.

I really liked this article. It was the first one I've read that was so compassionate towards foodie parents like me, with kids who won't try ANYTHING. But the conventional wisdom here completely fails me. They say to offer things for two weeks, and eventually they'll try them. HA! I've offered things literally hundreds of times for years and years to no avail.

But it's not so bad. It's kind of a relief that he really likes a subset of allowed foods. I'll take it.

I just wish I didn't have to make separate dinners when we all eat together. That's getting a little old.