The lunch menu pretty much repeats itself each week so I know what days he will eat school food and what days he will bring his lunch. Mondays: chicken nuggets. Tuesdays and Thursdays: cheese pizza. So healthy. Wednesdays is usually hamburgers and Fridays are usually fish of some kind. He always brings lunch on those days. M and I will often go and eat lunch with him on Thursdays and I make sure he knows that I expect him to take at least one veggie (not in potato form) and one fruit from the options that are available. Oh, and he has to eat them too! He is getting so much better at trying new foods but he is still his mother's son with his food texture issues. There are just some textures that make us gag. We cannot stop it. It just happens. He is so much better at just keeping it at the gag stage now instead of barfing everywhere.
As a baby and way into the toddler years, we couldn't have a meal at all without him barfing. It became such a source of anxiety for me because there is nothing that I hate more than cleaning up puke. It makes me gag and usually puke myself. And I hate puking more than anything too. Now how did I end up going down this road???
Anyway, because it made me so anxious during each meal that he would lose it, I've just let him choose the foods that he is comfortable with eating so we can get through a meal without incident. As a result, his diet is limited. He is just now getting around to enjoying those foods that other kids love. Like grapes. He has also recently decided that steamed broccoli and green beans are ok. He now will ask for mixed veggies and will eat veggie soup but will not eat a raw veggie in any way, shape or form. It is discouraging. Especially when I have several friends who have children who are such good eaters. M used to love exploring new foods. However, now she likes only what her brother likes because she adores him.
It used to drive C insane that O would lose it at every meal and he thought he was possibly doing it on purpose. I guess I had never told him about my food texture issues so I explained what I thought was going on and he was really surprised that I had such issues. It is really quite crazy. I'll love the taste of a particular food and be eating it then right in the middle of a mouthful, I suddenly want to gag and it takes every bit of energy that I have to swallow it. Then, of course, I'm done. It is strange and upsetting because I never know when it will happen. Of course there are foods that I won't even eat because I've never been able to eat them without gagging: soggy bread, soggy cereal, tofu/bean curd, seafood (although I am getting a little bit better with this), anything with horseradish in it, anything with brown deli style mustard in it (these last two are more taste than texture but in my mind, it changes the texture of things), honey, eggs (eggs are tricky for me because I like them but the texture has to be just right for me to eat them).... the list could go on I'm sure.
As usual, I am long winded and off on another path when all I really wanted to note was the fact that O had to tough it out eating hot lunch at school today.
1 comment:
OMG, again I am shocked at how far removed I've been from O growing up (and now M too). I was there when he was 2 weeks old and 6 years later though I knew he'd barf if he didn't like something, I didn't even realize it was every meal and your serious anxiety associated with it! I thought it was a little quirk that sucked, but dang. Me = my own little world.
BTW seriously, is that really the school's menu? There must be stomething better, no?!
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