Two Bite Rule
I don’t claim to have children who are not picky eaters. Most kids are picky to some degree. But I do have the two bite rule. No matter how completely gnarly you are just sure it LOOKS, you must try those two (decent sized!) bites. One my hugest peeves is those who only look & think they don’t like it. Maybe they don’t. The point is failure to try is not helpful.
The other day my 4 yr old said to her sister. “You need to at least try a bite because what if you like it? You need to TRY!” That’s the true spirit of the 2-Bite Rule. It’s perfectly okay if you don’t like it. You’re done. But what if you do like it? What if your vision of the world expands to include another good thing? That’s why when they do discover they like something, we get excited...
We remind each other later in passing conversations how remember that time we tried couscous & it was actually good? All of us need encouragement to stay open. It’s never more important that in our formative years.
We believe in staying young no matter our age, but that’s about remaining open & flexible. It’s a gift to our kiddos that they not be afraid to try new things. It’s a bigger gift not to be the kid who never enjoys meals at anyone else’s house because ya only eat certain things or ya can only eat the way your mom makes something. It’s painful for them to be so limited. Some kids require a specific diet, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about kids who just prefer the safety of the known. We owe them the glory of that chance that leads to a wonderful expansion of their little worlds.