I remember a heavy conversation with my then 4-year-old son in a restaurant where we watched pelicans hunting fish.
Fish eat worms and bugs, I explained. Then birds eat the fish. Then bigger birds or sharks eat those birds and then other predators eat those animals.
“It’s a good thing we don’t eat animals,” he replied. “We eat food.”
A kick under the table from his mother told me not to get into the details, so I kept quiet for a while. Eventually, I continued up the food chain and today, although he hates the idea of killing animals, he eats meat because, as he explains, “We are animals and we do what other animals do. And it tastes good.”
Kids and food is a perennial challenge for parents. I swear if I could eliminate one word it would be nuggets. Chicken nuggets are a mainstay for him and so many other kids. Particularly the ones shaped like dinosaurs. He didn’t fall for the veggie nuggets I tried on him.
And an even bigger challenge with toddlers and up is taking them out to a restaurant. How do you do it without a meltdown? Please send us your tips and suggestions for best kid-friendly restaurants. We will make it a regular feature. We have some listed in this issue and plan for many more.
We have some restaurants that really aren’t kid appropriate but plenty of others really do cater to the mini-set. Like Dharma’s, which has a bunch of plastic dinosaurs and animals around for them to play with. That got us through many a meal. (And, sorry, that was my kid who put them in the fountain.)
Kids menus have become pretty standard and most come with some kind of drawing to color or games to play. Bless all of you who do that for us. We played so much tic-tac-toe that now he can beat me almost every time.
What’s been your biggest meltdown and how did you handle it? What’s your favorite place to eat out with the tykes and why? Please, please help our struggling parents out. We will print your suggestions and your favorite kids menus.
Cooking for them at home? Check out our Healthy Eats columnist Elizabeth Borelli’s suggestions every month. She has suggestions to get them off their nugget addiction and keep them eating whole, healthy foods that taste great and are easy to prepare. It’s a parent’s dream come true.
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Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava,
Editor and Publisher
