Sometimes they like what we don't! Ewwww!

A dear  friend of mine shared this picture of her daughter eating beets, and I remember looking at it thinking "ewwww beets, really?"  Then it hit me...are we introducing only foods we like to our kids or are we trying other foods also?!  I know as a parent buying foods and introducing foods to my kids was all based on what I liked and what I ate!  Crazy as it is, your kids just might like a food that you don't.  The toughest part might be feeding it to your kids while trying not to make a "ewww" face!  Also remember that your taste buds have changed as you have gotten older, and so will be the same with your kids.  Introducing new foods to your kids takes time and just because they don't like something now, doesn't mean they won't like it later in life.  This is especially true when you go from baby stage to toddler stage and from toddler stage to kid stage.  My daughter's first foods were bananas and sweet potatoes as a baby, but as she became a toddler, she wanted nothing to do with any potatoes at all.  Now at the age of 5, she will finally eat mashed potatoes again.  The hardest thing in changing taste buds is to not get discouraged or upset.  When she wouldn't eat her potatoes, my husband and I would look at her and say, "you use to eat these all the time, so eat them!"  Not realizing that we were putting ourselves in a position of fighting her to eat.  Which only made it worse for all of us! Obviously, there's a point when kids are older that they should try everything on their plate...but while they're younger don't stress too much because a month down the road, their taste buds just might change again.  So remember to try everything, because if your child eats beets, that's something to be proud of!  Special Thank You Erika Hedegard for sharing this adorable picture with us!