The death of the American dinner: the kid’s meal

I grew up in a big family and my mom cooked one dinner — for everyone.  You ate it or you didn’t; there was nothing else to choose. The kid’s meal meant a smaller serving of the same food. You ate it or you didn’t; there was nothing else to choose. Things were simple back then and it worked. I do the same thing in my home, now. Since my daughter was able to eat solid foods, she got mushy versions of the same thing until her teeth came in to chew it herself. She ate it or she didn’t; there was nothing else to choose.

When one of my daughter’s friends came over for dinner, I cooked extra food. It was a chance for me to use my new deep fryer for filet of sole. Her little friend was frightened. Her mom asked if I was cooking something else. I asked if her child was allergic to fish or seafood. No. I asked if her child was allergic to peanut oil I used for deep frying. No. Then I am not making something else. However, you are free to bring food to add to the dinner. The result? My dinner was a hit and we ran out of filet of sole and double-fried wedge fries; they didn’t even touch what they had brought over.

I never knew there was such a thing as kid’s food compared to adult food. I just knew it simply as food.

Last Christmas, for one of the office dinners, I brought my daughter. Because we were a large group, we had to pre-order. There was no kid’s menu and so children meals were ordered à la carte. I elected for my daughter to have the same food as everyone else instead of opting for pizza or mac and cheese. She ate the entire adult meal! The chef later came out to meet the only child in the restaurant that evening. He looked at her empty plate, smiled and asked if she enjoyed the meal. She nodded. The chef thanked me for not ordering from the kid’s menu as chicken fingers were not his specialty. We laughed.

Walk into any restaurant in America these days and chances are good that the menu contains a good portion of food aimed especially at children. I understand the appeal for familiarity but I think this practice destroys culinary inquisitiveness in children. How are children able to explore foods with spices and colors when everything is deep fried or looks like pasta? How would my daughter have discovered crème brûlée since I have never seen it on a kid’s menu? Being confined to a children’s menu is kind of like shopping in the kids section of a department store:  you are missing much, much more. More importantly, when kids get used to eating differently from what adults eat, they expect this all the time and this could lead to an entitlement complex where the child won’t eat your foods and opt for their own. I find often that when my daughter and I go to a friend’s house for supper, the kids are served different foods than the adults. Not my house, not my rules. I never knew there was such a thing as kid’s food compared to adult food. I just knew it simply as food. Some families may have time to make two dinners each evening, I don’t. And no kid I know ever starved because they didn’t get a kid’s meal.