Grandchild’s Fussiness

I admire his discriminating taste in rejecting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ??

Many children go through a picky stage around that age. I wouldn't worry about it. The more fuss you make, the more they are likely to dig in their heels and refuse to eat. Fussy eaters drive me round the bend, personally - but I know it's not worth getting upset over.

agree with above.
he sounds fine, and parents sensible.
don't worry.

Why find something to worry about what his parents give him for packed lunches is nothing to do with you and if they feel his fussy eating is a problem I m sure they ll deal with it
Don’t worry

If the parents have no problem with what he eats and doing the associated meal prep - then why is it an issue for you?

His parents have it handled
They are right in not making food a battle ground

Thanks for your input. I think I’m over sensitive to it for three reasons - I live with them all and meal prep more often than not is my responsibility (not school lunch though,) my late DH was severely picky (never grew out of it and his mum consistently made him an alternative meal just for him) which was quite challenging, and in general, like Blondiescot, fussiness drives me around the bend.

My DGS is very fussy. He will eat some veg (only 3 types, but healthy ones, fruit and his favourite, beige carbohydrates. Minimal protein, which as a veggie is worrying.

I got him some high protein chocolate mousse today, thinking I was onto a winner. Nope. 'Yukky!'

MawtheMerrier

I admire his discriminating taste in rejecting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ??

I agree, they sound revolting!

It's an American thing. My DD loved them. My DGS is scathing about them.

Jelly is American for jam, isn’t it? Still sounds pretty ? to me, but then I don’t like peanut butter (or peanuts) anyway.

My Gdcs who’d previously eaten just about everything, turned very fussy at about 2, but at 6 and 7 are much better now.

Some food is very cultural

Beans on toast does not sound very appealing

Hithere

Some food is very cultural

Beans on toast does not sound very appealing

No, quite! But even Mr. Picky (DGS) will very occasionally deign to nibble at beans on toast.

My GC will eat handfuls of nuts with their tea, as protein. They also eat soy sauce marinated sauteed tofu (small squares).

But mostly we just offer on tiny plates, lots of variety.

No worrying, that's for parents.

I think his school lunches sound great! I used to feel guilty sometimes at running to walk to get packed lunches organised whilst working fulltime, ...boring ham, cheese, egg or peanut butter sandwiches were the standard fare with some fruit, and a yoghurt!

‘Naturally I do not offer any options’

Well done, I’m sure he will love coming to see you, NOT.

Give him what he likes to eat, life is too short to start a battle over food.

Nanamar - I was a fussy eater and very skinny as a child and despite my mother being told that a normal child wouldn’t starve themselves, she made various efforts to make me eat, including adding food colouring to milk to make “magic milk”. It wasn’t so much that I wouldn’t eat certain foods, but not much of anything, and ate very slowly!

It did change as I got older, but I still have issues occasionally if too much food is heaped on my plate and someone is watching me eat - saying “don’t you like it?” It’s like I get a lump in my throat and I can’t swallow.

The point of my story is to suggest that it’s best to ignore children’s faddiness as much as possible- they usually grow out of it (except for some on autism spectrum who may have particular sensory issues).

With my own children (5 of them) I would just cook one dinner and they could choose what bits of it they wanted to eat. Breakfast and lunch they would make their own as soon as they could butter a slice of bread - family joke that I was a lazy mother!

I think I would have problems like you Nanamar if I had to prepare different foods for different family members. When one lot of grandchildren come to stay, I leave their parents get their meals. If the parents want to indulge this fussy stage, they should be willing to prepare all his meals, not just school lunches. However, at 6 he should be able to butter a slice of bread or pour a bowl of cereal for himself.

fussiness drives me around the bend

A warning for impatient grandmothers and parents - children may have better instincts than you.

They may instinctively avoid certain foods because they know they are either allergic to them or may have an intolerance or worse (not always obvious when they are young).

Callistemon21

^fussiness drives me around the bend^

A warning for impatient grandmothers and parents - children may have better instincts than you.

They may instinctively avoid certain foods because they know they are either allergic to them or may have an intolerance or worse (not always obvious when they are young).

This is so important. My oldest would not eat chocolate. Chocolate for Pete's sake! Turns out she has a problem with cocoa beans.

Oopsadaisy1

‘Naturally I do not offer any options’

Well done, I’m sure he will love coming to see you, NOT.

Give him what he likes to eat, life is too short to start a battle over food.

I think Nanamar said opinions, not options!

Apologies Nanamar I misread your OP.

Yes Americans call jam jelly and our “pb and j” sandwiches are a staple. As it happens, I love beans on toast and I love a cheese and pickle (Branson’s of course) sandwich too and those are not common in the states. His parents are vegetarian - I am not and they do not impose that regimen on him. I have indeed backed off from making something different for him (as my MIL did for DH fir his entire life at home) and if his mum wants to assemble something alternative for him if she doesn’t think he’ll eat what we are having, I leave that to her.

It's a long time since I last had a peanut butter and jam sandwich, but if you like both components, then it's a delicious choice.
My nephew was a 'fussy eater'. He ate peanut butter on Ryvita for every meal. Now in his fifties he is a fit, healthy, delightful man. Also, a vegetarian /vegan. Interesting.