I read Dooce's blog post about her frustrations with her daugher's eating habits with a smirk on my face. I can't tell you how many times I've heard these stories from other parents. My rascal nephew is currently eating only write rice, broccoli, crackers and water.
Ian wasn't so much of a picky eater, as a particular eater. Foods couldn't touch each other. He only wanted his pasta in spaghetti shapes. (We've gotten past that now.) He couldn't look at Jonah eat without gagging. (Well, Jonah makes everyone gag. Foul boy!)
Apt. 11d 
Don’t forget fruit, pretzels, yogurt, bread and peanuts. He’s branching out (thank goodness!).
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When mine were eating toast with butter, bread with butter, angel hair noodles, hot dogs, and bread with peanut butter and could only occasionally be browbeaten to eat broccoli and frozen peas we borrowed a phrase from a friend and called it the ‘beige diet’. We also sneaked a lot of cheese in with the angel hair and gave them vitamin pills.
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I made delicious homemade mac and cheese last night, and my son said “Ewww!” (presumably because it wasn’t neon orange). Then he said, “broccoli!” and started eating some. Then he had a yogurt. All while standing up. I actually consider this a good night of eating. *sigh* His sister… well, I gave up on her a long time ago. All the books on picky eaters say “Set a good example for your children! Eat healthy foods in front of them and show them how delicious they are!” Bullshit.
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There was a time when at least one of my kids would ask to have the curry sauce washed off their curried chicken and the kids continue to believe that tomato sauce is toxic. However, there is a noticeable broadening of the kids’ tastes. The past few nights, C has been patiently waiting in the line at the cafeteria where they’ll do a stir fry for you (oh, how college dining has improved since the 90s). She comes back with a variety of actual vegetable in her stir fry. I’m not saying that she eats the vegetables, but she accepts their presence in her food, which has not always been the case. We also had a tofu breakthrough during Christmas break, as well as the near miraculous acceptance of a salmon loaf (one with oatmeal as the filler, I might add).
I think kids have totally different taste buds than grownups. Remember when we were kids how inexplicable it was that adults would willingly consume dill pickles? It works the other way, too. As an adult, I’ve had an occasional disappointment when the ambrosial treats of my childhood (Pop Tarts or white birthday cake with shortening frosting or candy) turn out to be much less interesting to an adult palate. The good news is that you don’t meet a lot of adults who will only eat buttered noodles, so maybe time is on our side.
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