Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
Parents use all sorts of tactics to get their picky eaters to consume calories, and sometimes it involves (a little) deception.
Recently, the author of Everything Here Is Under Control and The Second Season, Emily Adrian, turned to Twitter to share one scheme that worked really well on her 4-year-old son.
Image credits: adremily
After seeing him "provoking" her by repeatedly putting a dirty leaf in his mouth, Adrian decided to make the most out of his mischief and offered him "special eating leaves" instead. Just like that, Adrian successfully made her son eat an entire bowl of plain old salad.
Moms and dads appreciated the woman's quick thinking and as her tweet was going viral, some of them even revealed similar scams they personally use on their little ones.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Vicky Z 4 years ago
You wouldn't convince me to wash the dishes even if you promised me a live concert in my kitchen!
Load More Replies...
Tiny van Pouderoyen 3 years ago
My neighbour (44) stopped eating pizza when I told him the yellowish stuff is cheese. He hates cheese.
RELATED:
#2
Hi, I'm Mars! 4 years ago
My boys loved the idea of broccoli being trees and them being herbivorous dinos 😋 one is now 18, the other 21, and to this day they still love their broccoli.
Fluffy Griffin 4 years ago
I tricked myself into eating broccoli (even though I didn't like it) because I loved to pretend I was a dinosaur eating trees. I was about 8?
Lots of kids don't eat their broccoli but research shows that around 20 percent of them can actually be considered picky eaters. Most grow out of it, though.
Research also suggests that picky eating can be a sign of hypersensitivities that can occasionally cause social anxiety and depression.
Nancy Zucker, director of the Duke University Center for Eating Disorders, and her colleagues published a study in 2020 that looked at picky eaters aged 2 to 6. About 3 percent of the children in the study with extremely limited diets were also at a higher risk for mental health problems.
#3
Lovin' Life 4 years ago
Brilliant! I wish I would have thought of this when my daughter was eating our dogs snacks. She would give the dog her and eat his. I caught them in the act.
Kaedy Doyle 3 years ago
I wouldn't do this because if the kid gives some of his "cat food for humans" to the cat, it could get very sick.
#4
Piglet 4 years ago
My mam told my young me they were sprouts. I ate my sprouts. I still eat my sprouts. I love sprouts. Sprouts.
Jess Thompson 4 years ago
I pretended they were miniature cabbages like that Barbie or other toys would eat. I also ate tons of spinach cos of Popeye 😂 I am actually very strong compared to my siblings, who hated it 😆 💪🏽
Bender Bending Rodríguez 4 years ago
Only reason I started eating spinach is because of Popeye.
Load More Replies...
#5
Monday 4 years ago
I'm guessing he wanted the hard texture, hence the rock eating.
Load More Replies...
Eric Soliday 4 years ago
Good solution, otherwise that would be an expensive kid when they see the dentist
January Tempis 4 years ago
I would swallow small rocks as a kid so that I would always have some good luck charm rocks with me. Made me feel safe.
Sheila Cormack 3 years ago
Wow sounds like your bro had pica. For me it’s frozen cola not peas but eating rocks and ice is very pica. It can be caused by Anaemia. I’m going into get an infusion to banish mine I’m going to miss my cola rocks. Of course he might have just liked them my kids would eat frozen berries or other sweet fruit thin banana slices frozen during teething helped so we tried feozen smoothie mixes the kids loved them.
V Martinez 4 years ago
Sorry to be gross. My youngest never ate rocks, thankfully. He did make them though. (His version of #2.) Gotta love kids and the things they come up with!
purple zebra 4 years ago
This is absurd! Child likely had a nutritional deficit and they made it worse by letting fill up on one type of food
"They were twice as likely to have a depressive disorder diagnosis and seven times as likely to have a diagnosis of social anxiety," Zucker told NPR. So, according to her, parents who are raising an incredibly picky eater should be aware that it could be a sign of a bigger issue.
But most picky eaters aren't that extreme. However, Zucker said it's still worthwhile understanding what's going on with them as well.
"They're more sensitive to taste, to smell, to texture, to visual cues like things like light."
#6
April Stephens 4 years ago
This is very nice. It doubles as a learning activity to practice shapes/colors and expand vocabulary.
Streuselsturm 4 years ago (edited)
And out comes stuff which is the same beautiful colour you get when mixing all the water colours lel
#7
Nicki 4 years ago
I had to tell my kids that every meat was "chicken" when they were little because for some reason they would only eat meat it if it was chicken. To this day (my kids are 13 and 16), I will occasionally catch them referring to their meat as chicken when it is obviously not chicken.
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
My sister would only eat chicken loaf for school lunches until mum called ham pink chicken loaf!
Load More Replies... 
#8
Daniel Marsh 4 years ago
Don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to Google "meat yogurt"
Thomas Sweda 4 years ago
Instead of asking our kids if they wanted Broccoli at dinner time, she asked if they wanted a lot of Broccoli, or just a little. Worked every time, with every unwanted food!
April Stephens 4 years ago
Aren't spicy samosas sometimes dipped in plain yogurt, or am I thinking of a different dish?
#9
Monday 4 years ago
But what would it taste like if you actually fried them? I am very tempted to try.
Dawn Thomas-Cameron 4 years ago
They are delicious! Did them in my air fryer.
Load More Replies...
Patricia 4 years ago
Apples always taste better if someone who loves you has cut them up for you.
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
So true! Actually it is the same with a lot of fruit and veg. Salad sandwiches also taste better if mum makes them :)
Load More Replies... 
Vetus Vespertilio 4 years ago
Fried apples are delicious! Don’t know about deep fat, but sautéed apple slices are standard at our house with any kind of pork, including peameal bacon.
Sheila Cormack 3 years ago
Yeah definitely did this one even cut the red apple into a McDonald’s sheet box to put the fries in he liked
Marie Bland 3 years ago
Awww my nan (RIP) used to do this for me, forgot until I read this, memories...
Again, in a situation where a kid really does have such a limited palate, Zucker suggests parents should remain alert but not give in to panic.
"So the way I think of these kids as these are sensitive kids... They're sensitive to their external world. They're sensitive to their internal world. They have a - potentially a richer, more vivid life experience ... That's not pathological, but it could be a vulnerability, you know, if it crosses a threshold where it starts to impair them."
For more similar confessions, check out these 30 Hilarious Tweets By Parents Who Were At The Mercy Of Their Fussy Eater Kids.
#10
Cyndi Hafele 4 years ago
I was with my sil and 2 nieces, girls were, maybe 5 and 2-ish, we were discussing where to go for dinner, decided on Red Lobster. There was a sudden wail from the 5-ish year old, she was horrified, crying "But I don't wanna go to Red MONSTER!" It was funny.
Annette Atkinson 3 years ago
I’ve never had adult dinner and children s dinner - always just dinner? That way kids will always eat what you eat. Simples!
Janet Sturgess 3 years ago
When my youngest boy was small and we went to restaurants. EVERYTIME I asked him what he wanted....Oh I'll just have the lobster. Hahahahaha
#11
Lovin' Life 4 years ago
Well, it's not a lie. It does disappear into your stomach. That's magic, right?
#12
Lord Mysticlaw 4 years ago
My mom is almost 60 and she still has white cauliflower and green cauliflower...
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
My sister used to eat pink chicken. She got to about 12 and found out it was ham and still won't eat it anymore.
Maruša Otolani 4 years ago
My husband is nearing his 40s and he still calls cauliflower "white brocoli" and i was supposed to understand what he meant somehow
#13
Sheila Cormack 3 years ago
I have such a good video of my daughter aged 10 hopping around the living room pretending to be a bunny ears and all but not just any bunny a bunny servant for year-old brother in a tinker bell costume. the video your brother start wearing Tinkerbell dress start babbling at her and she nods like he knows what he’s saying hops off to get some cereal. Their bro 12 in the background reading comics with tiger ears on. it was awesome but I can’t share it because now at 16-year-old she might murdered me. Silly children tinker bell is a tinker type fairy not an animal type that’s fawn job. My little one no longer plays fairy which is fine he just wanted to fly. Sadly I tried to tell my daughter what fairy’s eat blue berries I think but she asked a friend who was a little awkward with kids what do fairy’s eat and he said they eat crisps (potato chips).
#14
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
My mum and sister came to pick me up from a friends house when my sister was about 3 or 4. The friend had baby spinach growing in the front garden and they let my sister pick some. She never would have eaten it before, but since she got to pick it she did. For the next few years the only greens she would eat were baby spinach, even though she didn't pick it herself.
#15
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
Whenever I made 'soup' when playing in my cubby house my mum told me which things in the garden were edible. I usually had nasturtium petals, parsley, lemon juice etc in water. I did add a tiny pinch of dirt when mum wasn't looking though, which I guess was good for my immune system!
Sheila Cormack 3 years ago
Wow I did some experiments but I had chives in my garden we called them spring onion we also had a mint plant and we’d steal black currents from our neighbour so when we did an Enid Bolton run away our lunch was mint water with black currents a spring onion. so fine we did also have winter roses but I knew they were deadly . My kids like eating our fennel bush I abhor the plant but it tastes of aniseed and the kids like it. Teaching them ok plant not ok was important they loved and our berries and rhubarb. we had carrots but people don’t realise carrot leaves are an irritant if you have touched them and then expose where it touched to the sun you get nasty burns so I stopped them being planted as our neighbour kid would accidentally kick his ball near them and if he was in short s he’d get carroted
#16
#17
Nicole Del Fiorentino 3 years ago
Everything was chicken for my 2-yr old. Beef chicken, pork chicken, fish chicken. Worked every time.
Trina Selleck 3 years ago
Same with my now 14 year old son and also my now 28 year old nephew - both started calling all meat ‘chicken’ off their own accord, and were both around age 10 before they stopped lol! My son also hates mashed potato but white fluffy clouds r a fav! Especially if paired with the little green and white trees!
Tonya Christogiannopoulou 3 years ago
Haha My daughter was the same. Would only eat meat if we called it chicken
V Martinez 4 years ago
Did this with fish sticks for my kids. They eat a variety of stuff now. But when they were little, only chicken. So fish sticks were known as chicken sticks.
Susan Betz 4 years ago
One of my three daughters has never liked pork of any flavor from the start (including bacon and ham!). She would not have fallen for this ruse.
#18
Tavi-The-Taboo (He-They) 4 years ago
Oh yeah, the series with the drycacoo malfood character?
Load More Replies...
Tavi-The-Taboo (He-They) 4 years ago
I'm sh*tting myself over how they spelt hermonie granger-
juice 4 years ago
To get their little sister to eat as a kid, they pretended food was the favorite of whatever protagonist the sister liked. Saying scrambled eggs were Hermione Granger's favorite breakfast got the sister to eat eggs. Saying the cats from Warriors like tuna salad got her to eat tuna salad. (the "hands only" thing means eating with your hands and not utensils. probably because 'that's what the cats do')
Load More Replies...
That_One_Harry_Potter_Nerd 4 years ago
I think Hermione honestly would eat scrambled eggs on toast tho lol
#19
Vicky Z 4 years ago
I don't understand why kids HAVE to eat broccoli! I get that they need to eat vegetables but there are some that have weird texture and i think you shouldn't force them! Never liked it and was still healthy eating other vegetables
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
If they will eat other veggies that is fine. If they refuse all of them that's when there is a problem. I still won't eat peas!
Load More Replies...
Terry Fergusson 4 years ago
You know that liking broccoli is determined by your DNA. To someone who has the wrong DNA, that broccoli tastes like rotting fish. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/the-science-of-picky-eaters-smart-marine-mammals/
#22
#23
DDmaybeandor 4 years ago
Directly after my 3 year old niece heard “eat these carrots, they’ll help you see better”, she turned right around and told her mom, “eat this jellybean, it’ll make you fly!”.
Starbelly Eleven 4 years ago
The carrot one worked on me as a kid. I still think of it when I eat carrots and I'm 48 now!
#24
#25
Hi, I'm Mars! 4 years ago
Prunes are far more effective and safe to relieve constipation than laxatives. Tasty, too.
Calyx Teren 3 years ago
Dried apricots are also excellent for that purpose. Just a couple a day will work.
Load More Replies... NOLAHusker 4 years ago
Has anyone said bowel movement yet? Asking for a friend.
Load More Replies...
#26
Laugh or not 4 years ago
What do those kids drink if not water ? That's litterally the only drink we need.
Hi, I'm Mars! 4 years ago
My nephew went through a phase where all he would drink was strawberry milk. For YEARS. His doctor was fine with it because of the calcium and vitamins involved.
Load More Replies...
Pharmtechgurl 4 years ago
We weren't allowed anything to drink during meals; my mother's theory was that we would drink and fill up, so not finish our meal. To this day, I don't drink anything when I eat, probably why I am fat and overeat. Thanks, Mom!
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
I can't eat a meal without a drink as well. I hate having a dry mouth when I'm trying to eat.
Load More Replies... #27
#28
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
I never had balsamic vinegar as a kid (maybe it was too expensive or too exotic in the 90s?) but now I have tried it it is my go to dressing. I tried a raspberry balsamic yesterday and it was even better!
Load More Replies... 
#29
Lovin' Life 4 years ago
All of my spoons made airplane noises except for the one that mad choo choo train sounds.
Henry Cheves 4 years ago
Mad choo choos sound like: I'll CHUGGA and I'll CHUGGA and I'll CHOO CHOO down your throat!
Load More Replies...
#30
DDmaybeandor 4 years ago
To a child, they both have the word pickle in them and are therefore exactly the same.
Load More Replies...
Thomas Sweda 4 years ago
What has pickles got to do with pickled eggs? And why didn’t you just tell her what they were?
Beth L 4 years ago
They're both... pickles? Just like pickled beets, pickled cauliflower, pickled brussels sprouts?
Load More Replies...
Jessica MacLeod 3 years ago
I'm surmising it is likely her biological son's ex.
Load More Replies... #31
LunaLovegood987 4 years ago
Mint is actually really good raw once you know what to expect. When you bite into it expecting the normal sweet peppermint flavor it's not as good though.
Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Peppermint isn't sweet though. Why would anyone expect it to taste sweet?
Load More Replies... Hi, I'm Mars! 4 years ago
Ha ha my son used to spend a lot of time with my brother, who's always been an avid gardener. The kiddo would raid the garden and could strip several pots of snap peas in a matter of minutes. No one even got upset because it was homegrown veg. Kiddo was 17 this last summer and guess what didn't last more than a day in our garden? Peas. My brother built these beautiful chest-high garden boxes so I could plant and tend to my various veggies without having to get down on the ground (I have severe rheumatoid arthritis and Still's Disease) and my son was adamant that I plant LOTS of peas.
#32
#34
Hi, I'm Mars! 4 years ago
The long running rule in my family is that you have to try it once. If you try it and dislike it, you never have to eat it again. Worked really well and introduced people to foods that's wouldn't normally have even been considered.
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
My son was not into many food textures, and meat was one of big challenges (and pulses etc but that's another story). He was into being a tiger, and came home from a night at my mum's talking about how he had gazelle balls. I asked mum: they were mince meatballs! She took him to the supermarket and told him they were both tigers looking for prey. He helped hunt the gazelle balls from the butchery department 😆
sirfryingpan 4 years ago (edited)
im like your son, taste doesnt apply to me... but if it has a bad texture, i dont like it
Load More Replies...
Carol Emory 4 years ago
My son hated broccoli as a child..but the TA's at my son's school got him to eat it by saying for every broccoli he ate, he got an M&M. They'd let him pick from the bowl. Eventually the M&M's were dropped from the deal when he finally realized that broccoli wasn't so bad. I also got him to eat spinach by pretending I was totally grossed out every time he ate it. He got a kick out of watching my face go sour and pretend I was gagging with every bite he took.
Hans 4 years ago
For us, living by example works. Every afternoon, and on weekends also every morning, we put a large plate on the living room table, and it has a seasonal choice of mouth ready pieces from two to four raw-edible vegetables (like cucumber or kohlrabi), berries, and fruits on it. Not everyone likes everything, but everyone picks something, the children usually by visiting the table while playing. Actually, the small ones sometimes have so much from the plate that they may only have a small dinner. No worries then, though, if they at the main meals pick just pasta and no cooked vegetables...
sirfryingpan 4 years ago
when i was about two my parent brought me to a sushi restraunt. I got a plate of kids teryaki chicken. I saw my parents got a sashimi platter. When I saw the tuna I thought it was watermelon. Being the dumb two year-old I was, I asked, "Is that watermelon?" (I LOVED watermelon when I was young, and I still do). My parents said, "uhh, YEP!". I happily grabbed the tuna, stuffed it in my mouth. and chewed... and chewed... and chewed... I LOVED IT! Thats how my parents got me into sushi.
Flopsy 4 years ago
I am a very lucky mother. My daughter eats just about anything. Didn't need to use any of these silly tricks either (I don't mind them but they are not my style). I just put food in front of her (what we were also eating) and allowed her not to eat it, no big deal. Now she loves salads, soups, anything really and would also try foods she doesn't like to see if she has changed her mind.
Julie 4 years ago (edited)
My boy still does not like some veggies but he will try anything I ask. He loves lettuce (will eat an entire head in a day if I let him, I usually limit him because he will be pooping to no end), he loves bell peppers, carrots, green beans and corn! I figure if he eats those veggies I am cool with that and do not trick him into eating those he does not like. I figure as he gets older and his palate changes, he will also love to eat all the other veggies too. Mom's united! This is something I am very lucky and proud for...he refuses candy. Once in a while he will eat a candy bar or some skittles but for snacks he always reaches for apples first. At the market, I have asked him at checkout if he would like any candy...when he replies "no thank you" the cashiers always remark that seeing that is a first for them. :)
Load More Replies... 
Jennifer Germain 4 years ago
got my boys to eat when they were being finicky by feeling their arms and telling them I could feel their muscles growing with almost every bite. Worked on my grandson too :D
LynzCatastrophe 4 years ago
Im a tall woman, I hit 6 feet tall at 17. At a family reunion on my dad's side many many years ago, I was approached by one of my relatives who told me her 7 year old twin boys wanted to know how I got so tall. So rather than give the usual response of how my maternal grandfather is nearly 7 feet tall, she asked me if I would tell her boys that I ate my vegetables and ate any healthy thing my mother put in front of me. I loved the idea and have told this lie to children who've asked ever since. Besides the truth of how my height is genetic, the bigger lie is how I preferred cafeteria food in high school and my mother's bad cooking was fed to my dog.
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
My son was not into many food textures, and meat was one of big challenges (and pulses etc but that's another story). He was into being a tiger, and came home from a night at my mum's talking about how he had gazelle balls. I asked mum: they were mince meatballs! She took him to the supermarket and told him they were both tigers looking for prey. He helped hunt the gazelle balls from the butchery department 😆
sirfryingpan 4 years ago (edited)
im like your son, taste doesnt apply to me... but if it has a bad texture, i dont like it
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 4 years ago
My son hated broccoli as a child..but the TA's at my son's school got him to eat it by saying for every broccoli he ate, he got an M&M. They'd let him pick from the bowl. Eventually the M&M's were dropped from the deal when he finally realized that broccoli wasn't so bad. I also got him to eat spinach by pretending I was totally grossed out every time he ate it. He got a kick out of watching my face go sour and pretend I was gagging with every bite he took.
Hans 4 years ago
For us, living by example works. Every afternoon, and on weekends also every morning, we put a large plate on the living room table, and it has a seasonal choice of mouth ready pieces from two to four raw-edible vegetables (like cucumber or kohlrabi), berries, and fruits on it. Not everyone likes everything, but everyone picks something, the children usually by visiting the table while playing. Actually, the small ones sometimes have so much from the plate that they may only have a small dinner. No worries then, though, if they at the main meals pick just pasta and no cooked vegetables...
sirfryingpan 4 years ago
when i was about two my parent brought me to a sushi restraunt. I got a plate of kids teryaki chicken. I saw my parents got a sashimi platter. When I saw the tuna I thought it was watermelon. Being the dumb two year-old I was, I asked, "Is that watermelon?" (I LOVED watermelon when I was young, and I still do). My parents said, "uhh, YEP!". I happily grabbed the tuna, stuffed it in my mouth. and chewed... and chewed... and chewed... I LOVED IT! Thats how my parents got me into sushi.
Flopsy 4 years ago
I am a very lucky mother. My daughter eats just about anything. Didn't need to use any of these silly tricks either (I don't mind them but they are not my style). I just put food in front of her (what we were also eating) and allowed her not to eat it, no big deal. Now she loves salads, soups, anything really and would also try foods she doesn't like to see if she has changed her mind.
Julie 4 years ago (edited)
My boy still does not like some veggies but he will try anything I ask. He loves lettuce (will eat an entire head in a day if I let him, I usually limit him because he will be pooping to no end), he loves bell peppers, carrots, green beans and corn! I figure if he eats those veggies I am cool with that and do not trick him into eating those he does not like. I figure as he gets older and his palate changes, he will also love to eat all the other veggies too. Mom's united! This is something I am very lucky and proud for...he refuses candy. Once in a while he will eat a candy bar or some skittles but for snacks he always reaches for apples first. At the market, I have asked him at checkout if he would like any candy...when he replies "no thank you" the cashiers always remark that seeing that is a first for them. :)
Load More Replies... Jennifer Germain 4 years ago
got my boys to eat when they were being finicky by feeling their arms and telling them I could feel their muscles growing with almost every bite. Worked on my grandson too :D
LynzCatastrophe 4 years ago
Im a tall woman, I hit 6 feet tall at 17. At a family reunion on my dad's side many many years ago, I was approached by one of my relatives who told me her 7 year old twin boys wanted to know how I got so tall. So rather than give the usual response of how my maternal grandfather is nearly 7 feet tall, she asked me if I would tell her boys that I ate my vegetables and ate any healthy thing my mother put in front of me. I loved the idea and have told this lie to children who've asked ever since. Besides the truth of how my height is genetic, the bigger lie is how I preferred cafeteria food in high school and my mother's bad cooking was fed to my dog.
You May Like 51 Modern Parenting "Trends" That Are Downright Terrible “They Are So Ungrateful”: Mom Films Son’s Reaction To Angel Tree Gifts, Gets 2M Views And A Lot Of Opinions Parents Had To Take Time To Recover After These 61 Hilarious Roasts From Their Kids
Indrė Lukošiūtė
Jonas Žvilius
Mantas Kačerauskas
Related on Bored Panda
