Managing Meals Outside Your Home

Many kids can also be very picky eaters and even more to the point, many children also can have special dietary needs. What can you do as a parent to make sure that any jaunts out for a meal at someone else's home are as pleasurable as possible?

• If your child has special dietary needs or allergies, let your host know but make sure you always are prepared with your own food.
• If your child is merely a picky eater, let your host know but do not put too much of a burden on them. Most people have no problem accommodating dietary needs but if your child is simply picky that should not be the cook's responsibility.
• When at your guest's home, be sure to portion out your child's food appropriately so that expensive food and hours of cooking don't go to waste.
• If your child does leave some food on his or her plate and you want more, feel free to eat your little one's unused portions.
• As long as there are no health threats to your little boy or girl, do not be afraid of letting your little ones sample foods from other cultures. It will widen their palate and allow them to be more experimental with ethnic foods when they grow up.

By Chris Giardino