It is always funny when I realize something has occurred to DC that he did not know, until it does finally does occur to him.
For those that may not be aware – DC LOVES bread! Bread, bread, bread, bread and more bread.
Bagels, rolls, toast, breadsticks……BREAD!
He is very picky about everything else he eats – not that you would know that by looking at him – believe me he is very picky, but bread is one of the few constants on the very limited list of foods that he will eat.
One day in the grocery store, he spotted “Fried Breaded Ravioli” – but he saw “Fried Bread”. I will never forget the look on his face.
“MOM!!!! Fried BREAD!!!” – I thought the heavens would open up and the choir would sing. It was as if his life was now complete.
I tried to explain to him that it was not fried bread, but fried ravioli. He does not know what ravioli is. He does not like pasta of any kind (until recently, he would not touch it at all) so I never attempted ravioli. I explained that it was pasta. He did not care, it was fried bread. That is what he read and nothing was going to change this in his mind.
He tried it, he loved it. Still, I can not get him to understand, while trying to get him to eat pasta, that the fried ravioli that he loves IS pasta.
DC also loves garlic bread. He looks for it on the menu anytime we go out to a restaurant. He will not miss an opportunity to order it. If mozzarella cheese is an option, better still!
The day that my friend, Tonya* had us all over for dinner while she was creating our “Beauty School Drop Out” headwear, she made garlic bread to go with dinner. DC, always around when there is food, watched the whole process. A light bulb went off in his head, although I did not know it at the time.
The next day, he got the bread and asked for “garlic bread”. At this moment, I realized that he did not know that garlic bread is not just something that is available in a restaurant, we can make it at home!!!! This type of small thing; you can make garlic bread at home or you can open your eyes in the water with swimming goggles on, are not the sort of thing I always think about. It doesn’t always occur to me, still after all of this time, that I need to tell him that he is wearing the goggles so he can see and he doesn’t have to swim with his eyes closed while wearing them.
From then on, bagels, english muffins, bread, anything he could use to make garlic bread, he did. Unfortunately, he does not always understand what flavors may or may not go together – yet another thing that did not occur to me. I explained to him that garlic on a blueberry bagel could taste pretty ‘dis-dusting’ and I went on to explain that he should use plain bagels, nothing sweet like blueberries or chocolate chips, raisins, cinnamon, sugar, etc. – but the following day he had moved on to pumpkin spice bagels.
Although I really can’t say he wouldn’t just love garlic on pumpkin spice – I’ve seen him eat much odder combinations,
I really did have to stop him….
Taking it a Step at a Time 
Food challenges! James is a breadophile, too, and will also eat meat and cheese–but anything vegetative, besides corn, is taboo. Fruit only in juice form. We push vitamins and supplements prety hard!
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DC lives on chicken at home (he will do vegetables and fruit though) and of course bread, but when we go out it has to be burger and/or wings. We always have to ask for a children’s menu just on case they don’t have burgers, wings or chicken strips on the regular menu. That is all he wants with his bread.
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I am with DC on loving the garlic bread! My son is really only eating eggs and bananas right now.
Isn’t it amazing sometimes the things we don’t think of to explain or talk about – I love those moments of seeing through his eyes and learning a new way to communicate with him.
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Fortunately DC will always eat chicken – “chicken with bones and sprinkles” – that is. (Mrs. Dash seasoning). I know – and when I think about the goggles issue all this time later, I still don’t know, knowing what I know now, if it would occur to me to let him know he could open his eyes.
What do you do about lunch at school? Will he eat hard boiled?
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We send a ham and salami sandwich. I suspect the salami gets eaten, maybe the ham, not the bread. we have told him to bring what he doesn’t eat home so we know what he is and isn’t eating, and that he won’t be in “trouble” for not finishing his lunch, but I think he forgets that when it is time to clear away his place and go outside to play. He is not asking for anything (except candy!) in his lunch. I will ask about hard-boiled and see what he thinks – great idea, thank you!
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My daughter also loves bread – but she is more particular – it has to be white bread/roll and if grandma makes cinnamon toast even better.
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Cinnamon toast! Ooooo, that brings back memories. I haven’t had that in years! I don’t blame her there.
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Aww I love this. My son’s almost 5 and in feeding therapy and the foods are limited and weird: straight peanut butter, straight hummus…and bacon. I don’t get it, but at least that’s 3 proteins. it’s interesting to wade through both feeding issues and kid pickiness.
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It’s funny because DC likes the exact opposite of what he would eat as a kid. When he was young I had to hide bits of chicken in the stuffing (yes I have to always have stove top stuffing because it was one of the few things he would eat) because he would not eat chicken. Now he lives on chicken and will not touch stuffing – ever.
I agree those 3 food choices are strange, but there must be some sort of reasoning behind it.
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