My dad has been teaching a parenting class for the community at our church and apparently he has been telling the class the story of the beets. In fairness to him I haven’t heard him tell it but I’m pretty sure his version is wrong.
For those who know me you know I eat adventurously and I eat just about anything. There are 3 small caveats to that mantra. First, I despise beets – no matter how they are prepared. They are a terrible food that I believe you are forced to eat if you die and go to that eternal hot place. Second, I’m not a big fan of olives, either black or green but I have been known to tolerate them on occasion. Third, mushrooms are ok but if I have a preference I would prefer to pass. Other than that, I like to try new things and enjoy the variety of foods available to us on planet earth.
Growing up I was the easy child. My sister was the difficult child. I would eat whatever mom and dad put in front of me. My sister on the other hand liked and disliked certain foods based on the weather. Some days she would like broccoli, other days she only liked broccoli with cheese, and on yet other days she would swear she never liked broccoli at all. Multiply that by the number of meals a family eats together and you can see how she was the difficult child.
Despite the fact that I ate everything I was served my father was determined to make me eat beets. I had tried them and didn’t like but for some reason I will never understand he wanted me to eat a full serving a beets. There must have been 2 or 3 pounds on my plate and with great wailing and gnashing of teeth I choked down all the beets. I remember that as being the longest night ever. I would take a bite, chew, choke a bit, gag them down and then regurgitate them a little.
I thought I was a pretty good 8 or 9 year old as I would eat everything else while my sister’s tastes changed based on the day of the week. Apparently my good track record was not enough. Meanwhile my sister was allowed to continue being a persnickety eater – and she is to this day.
As for me, I love broccoli – no matter how you prepare it but my favorite is with cheese and crumbled Ritz crackers.
Hopefully this sets the record straight, not only for you today, but for my therapist tomorrow.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
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As the who owns the copyright to this story let me clarify a few points. First the amount of beets consumed by the young lad was 6.02 micrograms. Second while he did not think this had much of apositive impact, esecially on him, the fact remains that he can honestly say he has tried beets and does not like them. Also another profound affect was on his sister observing this little lesson in life and from that point on not disliking any other foods.
ReplyDeleteMoral of the story: Bravo for Beets
A few points to contest with this Anonymous author whom I'm pretty sure is my father.
ReplyDeleteFirst, it was more than 6.02 micrograms. It took hours to consume and was at least half the can.
Second, the statement that it had a positive impact is not true. I could have told you from a single bite that I didn't like the beets. Regardless I had to finish them all. I have tried exotic food all over the world, I'll try anything, but as an adult if I try it and don't like it I'm not forced to finish it. For some warped reason, I tried beets and did not like them. Apparently dad thought I needed to eat half the can to make sure. He never made my sister eat half of anything.
As for the positive impact it had on my sister, she continues to dislike foods based on the day of the week. If anything she became more picky with what she eats seeing what they did to me. Go ahead, ask her if she likes broccoli and how she likes it prepped. I dare you.
Okay, I have remined silent long enough. Time for me to set a few things straight. First, of all I distinctly remember being made to eat good portions of things I didn't like. Second, I will admit that when I was growing up my tastes did change quite often..cough...cough; however, looking back I believe that can be attributed to the different way things were cooked. Canned broccoli, steamed broccoli, broccoli soup, etc all taste different. Furthermore, my tastes today are not as changing. Ther are few things I dislike. I like all of the normal stuff. A few people in our family, who shall remain nameless, don't like simple things like grapes, spaghetti, or bananas. And yet I am the one under ridicule! I don't get it! And btw, I like my broccoli steamed and when I am trying to be unhealthy I like it with cheese. Thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteOh, and one more thing....I may have been a tad bit more difficult growing up, but at least I'm not the most difficult offspring as an adult!! =)
ReplyDeleteI wonder who all these anonymous posts could be from. I guess it could be from anyone since the poster failed to provide an authenticated identity.
ReplyDeleteThat being the case it isn't worth refuting what anonymous people write. :)