Why the explosion in short-order cooks?

Oddly, I have seen a significant shift in recent years, as parents now taking on a third job. Life is busy and stressful already, of course. Yet, I see Moms and Dads embracing a new occupation; that of the short-order cook.

• “It’s a Dream Come True. Cooking Three Meals Every Night.”

These are the words of a delusional hard-working, short-order cook. In fact, it seems like and sounds like insanity. Fortunately, I have never heard those words.

In fact, most parents grow weary and tired of such constant cooking. It is exhausting. It is time-consuming. It is never getting better.

• “I Love Cooking Something & Then Throwing It Away.”

Again, more words from the psychotic. Who thinks this way? No one I have met.

In most circumstances, we get upset and frustrated after taking the time to cook the requested meal… only to then find your son or daughter refuses to eat it. At that point, cooking yet another meal, is often a source of even more frustration.

• “And, I Really Enjoy All the Complaints About My Cooking.”

Okay, you get the idea. None of these quotes are closely related to what anyone says, and almost everyone hates the whole process outline above. (And yet there’s even more, as there is often much more negotiating, arguing and fussing over food than I can cover in this article.) The rise in short-order cooking is very real, but it’s not embraced or loved by anyone.

Short-order cooking and nurturing picky eaters

So, how we end up with the ultimate picky eater in our home?

First, we start by accommodating their pickiness. That’s the job of the shortorder cook. Your kids want it. We cook it.

They don’t like. We cook something else.

They complain about it. We argue about it. We eventually give them what they want. In the end, over and over and over again, we accommodate their pickiness.

Secondly, we give tons of attention and energy to their complaining, whining and crying about the healthy food we put in front of them. We argue, beg, plead, yell and negotiate over and over. All this attention…to what?

All this parental attention goes into their resistance. In essence, a child’s pickiness, and all it’s com- mon elements (i.e., whining, complaining, crying, negotiating, etc.), gets the huge reward of repeated parental attention.

Your child resists eating, and we talk. They complain, and we tell them they are lucky to have food. They whine, and we tell them to stop whining. They cry, and we beg them to eat. They ask for something else, and we fix it.

Thus, you can easily see how we nurture picky eaters. We usually have some combination of the two parts mentioned above. We accommodate their pickiness, and we feed into their pickiness by giving it lots of attention. How do we not expect them to evolve into very picky eaters? It’s inevitable.

Why is picky eating such problem?

Many professionals and parents have normalized picky eating. They take an unhealthy, highly frustrating set of experiences and have made it “okay.”

It’s not okay. It is unhealthy. Here’s why.

First, kids almost always lean away from healthy foods, and prefer foods containing simple carbohydrates. This includes breads, pasta, cereal, cookies, pancakes, crackers, pizza, French fries, etc. While we didn’t recognize the health implications of these foods fifty years ago, we now know how dangerous such foods are when consumed exclusively.

Not only does it limit the breathe of nutrients your child receives, but this habit also has a highly damaging effect on their body. It affects blood sugar levels in a way that not only can support future obesity but also affects energy and ability to sustain attention in school. It is also very taxing upon the pancreas, attempting to keep up with the demands of changing internal blood sugar levels.

Thus, just know that if your child eats these simple carbs as a primary diet, it is not good. I encourage to read up a bit on this and recognize the detrimental impacts awaiting them in the future. Then, take seriously the question of your new occupation, and perhaps consisder abandoning the job of shor-order cook.