Hungry?

Some people eat to live; some people live to eat.  In our house, we have both kinds.

Lottie basically eats to live.  She likes food, but it's rarely the first thing on her mind.  When she was a toddler, she had quite the sophisticated palate.  She ate butternut squash soup, white cheddar cheese, and mushroom bisque. But as she has gotten a little older, she has lost her desire to try new things.  She likes to stick with the usual kid fare: mac and cheese, hot dogs, pb&j, and the occasional chicken nugget.  Her main go-to is fruit, so at least that's something healthy.  However, if she had her way, it would be all sugar, all the time.  That kid loves dessert; her sweet tooth is truly beyond compare.  She loves any form of chocolate, ice cream, brownies, fudge, cake, cookies, and cotton candy.  She begs for m&ms as often as she breathes.  She spends half her time trying to cajole me into letting her have a treat or taking her out for ice cream.  I only wish she would spend a portion of that time cleaning her room.  Ah, pipe dreams.

(Chocolate face)

Dallas is the opposite kind of eater; he lives to eat.  He doesn't necessarily have a hugely varied diet, but some of that is due to his food allergies.  But no doubt about it, my boy likes to eat.  And if he doesn't eat, he is Mister Crabbarino.  Grumpy McGrumpster.  Low Blood Sugar Louie.  Angry Arnie.  You get the drift.  Like Lottie, he asks for fruit a lot, but he would rather have chicken, sausage, hot dogs, or granola bars.  He's definitely a kid who likes his savory food.  Dallas likes the idea of dessert more than he actually likes the dessert itself.  He'll request something specific and then eat two bites of it.  That's lucky for Lottie because she'll finish whatever he won't eat: she even licked the chocolate off the candles on his last birthday.  But don't mess with his gummy fruit snacks.  Seriously, things will get
ugly.

Both kids are getting a little better at trying new and different foods now.  Of course, I don't really give them a choice.  Whatever I make for dinner is what we have for dinner; I refuse to be a short-order cook.  They don't have to eat what I make, but they're not getting anything else.  They have to try a bite of something before they deem it "yucky."  I'm not totally hard-hearted: the kids can have fruit if they don't like the meal.  But I'll be damned if I'm going to make them anything else.  Momma's too busy for such nonsense.  All I can hope for is that someday, they learn to appreciate the new and the different.  After all, isn't that the whole point of living?

(Please note that the hats are both the same size: the kids' heads are obviously not.)