Sometimes I think I was a picky eater because my parents had no idea how to encourage me. They treated it like a Problem and I saw dietitians... they never forced me to do anything, but my mom doesn't like adventuresome food and therefore did not make any for us. My back-up food, for years, was Gerber's meat sticks but then I got "too old" and eventually I stopped eating meat things all together because the texture grossed me out (until I was much older - now I'm fine).

Now, Andy makes all kinds of foods and I try them because I trust him when he says I'll like it. Now, I eat things my mom won't touch. I wish she'd thought to branch out and make foods she didn't like when I was a kid. I could have been eating asparagus the whole time! I ended up making most of my own food at the time, so at least I learned some cooking skills, but I was mostly making the same thing over and over (pasta) and I really could have learned more.

But, my mom didn't want to have kids until she met my dad and he was committed to doing that. I don't think she really had a Kids Plan. In my case, I have ALWAYS wanted kids and I pay attention to what everyone says about it, and I try to remember how I felt as a kid so I can do better. I think she did the best she could, and she's definitely getting more adventurous now (good for her!). And I'm making up for lost food-time now, too.