Why We Lost the Battle at Age Eleven of Getting Our Son to Try Something New

It is important to understand that I came from a very poor family and we rarely ate out or had soda. I vowed our kids would have more than that. We at least would go to McDonald's once a week. Our son was a very picky eater. The only thing he would eat was a fish sandwich. He loved cheese and we were convinced he would love cheeseburgers and of coursed we felt he would love McDonald's fries. He continued to refuse for months.

One day my wife and I had volunteered to be chaperones for a school outing. At the end of the trip when we got back into our town, we went to, you guessed it, McDonald's to eat. Our son had money so my wife and I concentrated on what we wanted to have. We were both beat so my wife got a booth way back in the corner so we could relax.

I got our order and was carrying the tray back to our booth when I spied our son. He was eating a fish sandwich, a cheeseburger, two orders of fries as well as a shake with his soda.

I hurried back and dropped the tray and grabbed my wife by the arm.

I wasn't even worried about embarrassing him. I demanded to know why he told us he didn't like this food when obviously he did. His answer came quick and was direct. He said "Dad, I'm sorry but I figured that if you thought I didn't like French fries you wouldn't try to get me to eat peas."

Who says kids don't think ahead?