My Kid Eats Sushi.

About 4 years ago, my family took a big vacation to Maui for my parent’s 30^th wedding anniversary.  While there, Jon and I went out for sushi one night and were sat next to a family with 2 kids that had to be under the age of 6. Their children were chowing down on sashimi and right then and there I set my parenting goals on raising kiddos brave enough to try and love a variety of ethnic foods. I myself was a picky eater and I know this drove my parents bananas. 

So when Forest approached the time to introduce solid foods, I read lots on how to raise diverse and well-rounded eaters and we were determined to do things right from the beginning (you know, just like we did with sleep training. hahahaha).  

Over the past year and a half we have had plenty of ups and downs with Forest’s eating habits. Teething has caused plenty of hunger strikes while alternately growth spurts have made meal time a breeze, but all in all Forest is a fairly good eater. 

He’s had plenty of Cajun, Indian and Thai food but I still thought we were a ways off sushi. 

Last Sunday, we ordered sushi for take out and got Forest some chicken and Ramen and steamed veggies for his dinner. 

I snuck him a few pieces of tuna and shrimp and he surprised me by wolfing them down. Then Jon and I watched with interest as he grabbed a tuna roll and started munching away. 

I was a little worried about the seaweed wrap being a choking hazard but he navigated it like an expert and ate it with no problem, and then asked for ‘more more sushi please’.   

It was a very proud parenting moment for me, and I felt like we must be doing something right. But, if I'm being honest, there may be more to the story…

Earlier that morning Jonathan had gone golfing. I was planning on grabbing coffee with some friends after F’s nap but since Jon’s golf game ran long,  there was only about a 60 second handover between the two events. I guess there was a little miscommunication between Jon and I over who was responsible for feeding Forest his afternoon snack, and apparently the little guy hadn’t eaten hardly anything since 11 AM! 

So it could have been that he was just so hungry that he would have eaten anything, even raw tuna wrapped in seaweed. 

But I’m gonna go with the fact that we are superior parents (who occasionally forget to feed our child) who have raised Forest to have a very mature and adventurous pallet. 

And in our defense, Forest NEVER says he’s hungry. He would play all day without stopping to eat if we would let him. Most kids ask for food all day long whereas Forest often throws a fit if you tell him he has to stop playing to eat his lunch. He is just not food motivated at all. The other day we were at a play date with a bunch of toddlers his age. The other momma’s were pretty astounded that when I gave Forest the option to have a pouch and a cookie he declined to keep playing with a train set. So I think it’s actually pretty remarkable that we don’t forget to feed him more often… He’s just way too busy for snack time!