I have never been a picky eater and I really get annoyed when dining with one. My nieces who are 18 and 20 still only eat food that usually comes with crayons and a seek-n-find placemat.

I find that to be ridiculous, although my daughter has narrowed her food selections significantly lately. She used to eat bean chili (extra mild), burritos, guacamole and bean salad. Now, it’s chicken, eggs, Caesar salad (my influence), plain pasta and pizza (and Cheetos with dad when I’m not around. But it’s hard to hide a Cheeto-fest with all of that orange evidence). She will eat a lot of fresh fruit and veggies (especially broccoli sprouts) as I mentioned, but I am trying to broaden her horizons a little.

She even drinks decaf green tea, but she is the dairy queen, ruler of all things milky and cheesy. She even asks me to tell her bedtime stories about milk. The one we made up is (scroll down to the next day if you can’t even stand the thought of reading this):

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Miriam and she lived in a castle with her dogs Mya and Stewie. And this princess loved milk. Milk, milk,milk. Milk for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. And cheese. And yogurt (“Mom – don’t forget to say ‘yogurt drinks’, too.”) But one day, there was no more milk in the kingdom of Talalay. Not one drop. Every sippy cup was empty. Princess Miriam was so sad. She asked her mom, “Hey Mom! Where’s all of the milk?” “Dunno” Princess Miriam realized if she wanted answers, she’d have to investigate it herself. She went straight to the dairy farm and asked the cows. The cows’ publicist issued this statement: ”Due to the fact that no one says thank you for milk and very few children even know where milk comes from, we are no longer providing milk.” So, Miriam says, “Well, I can understand how you feel. I love milk and I love you. Thank you for all of the milk you’ve ever given me.” From that day on, there was milk for everyone, occasionally chocolate. THE END NOW GO TO BED