10 Oct Pickiness Drives Me Freakin’ Crazy

We live in America. Land of the Free. Home of the Brave.

We have many choices as Americans. We see them all around in almost everything we do. We are spoiled!

The grocery store is a perfect example.  You want Ice Cream?  Multiple brands and a number of combinations of flavors to choose from.  You want Yogurt?  Well….you might as well stand there for ten minutes just to familiarize yourself with all of the brands and flavors.  You want Cereal?  Lucky Charms?  Cinnamon Toast Crunch?  Trix?  What about an apple?  Gala?  Sweet Tango?  Red?  Green?

The amount of choices today is challenging for some of us.  For others, it is expected.  I personally get overwhelmed at all of the choices that there are.  I grew up with very small means where the choices were slim.  My parents were hard workers and did everything they could to provide for us, but times were hard.  A majority of the time my sister and I didn’t have a choice but for what was put in front of us, and all I could do was be thankful I had food to eat and didn’t go hungry.  We knew if we didn’t eat what was in front of us, there wasn’t an alternative to go to.

Today, our children are becoming pickier than ever. They are living in a sense of entitlement when it comes to what they want to eat, and have no problem with food waste.  To be blunt, it drives me freakin’ crazy.  First, they have no idea how hard people work behind the scenes to give them the choices they have.  Farmers dedicate their families and livelihoods to help provide for their local communities and for the food supply not only in our country, but around the world.  Secondly, parents make sacrifices in working hard to provide food on the table for their own family.  The food that sits in front of anyone of us, child to adult, has blood, sweat, and tears behind every ounce.

We as parents have a large duty on our hands to instill the value of thankfulness and appreciation into our children.  We must educate them and do the best we can to give them the realization of how blessed we are as Americans.  So many starve around the world and there are so many that only wish they could have a choice to be picky and eat what they want.

As you sit down with your child for dinner tonight, may you educate those sweet faces how that meal made it in front of them and to be thankful for the farmers and thankful to you for providing them the choices they have.  Teaching them to be thankful and appreciative is key to our children today so that our choices will be there for many years to come.