“Never be afraid to try something new because life gets boring when you stay within the limits of what you already know” — Anonymous.”

“Come on Andrew just try a little piece… would you please,” I said as I grabbed a small piece of lettuce from my salad, dipped it in some ranch dressing and handed it to Andrew. He took the lettuce in his fingers, popped it in his mouth and then with a huge gulp of his drink he knocked the lettuce back as if it was a pill. Honestly, I had to laugh as I watched him swallow it whole rather than chew and taste it.

Andrew was never what I would consider a picky eater. As a baby the only food he refused was carrots and he continued to dislike them as he got older. He just did not like carrots no matter how they were presented. With most other foods though he was fine. Sure, there were things he didn’t like, for example spaghetti sauce. He liked it, until he didn’t. All it took was for him to have pasta with just butter on it one time. After that he always asked for “butter macaroni”. But he loved pasta so much that if I made spaghetti and meatballs with sauce, he would eat it.

Lettuce and salad were another thing entirely. I never thought of it as a big deal because how many kids like salad? But, as he got into his teens, I felt like he was mature enough to start trying things he that he thought he didn’t like, even though he hadn’t tried them. His dad is REALLY picky and refuses to try certain things which drives me bananas (something they both will actually eat). I didn’t want Andrew to grow up being so ridged.

My philosophy for Andrew has always been, if it isn’t going to hurt him, then I will always find a way to get him to try something new, even if he doesn’t want to. I won’t force him, but I do get creative, and I am not above being sneaky if that is what it takes.

Take for example tacos. Our family is a BIG fan of tacos. Andrew loves them and he would live on tacos, pizza and burgers if I let him. When we got takeout tacos, I always had to special order his, meat, cheese, and sour cream only! One day I decided to order his tacos with lettuce. When we got home, I took most, but not all of the lettuce out of his tacos. Next, I wrapped them like a little burrito, both ends folded in and the lettuce hidden inside.

I sat with Andrew at the table and handed him a carefully wrapped taco. He was hungry and he dove right in without looking. About two thirds of the way though he stopped. He noticed the lettuce peeking out, covered in beef and sour cream. I watched him take a long look at the lettuce. I could see him thinking. Then in one hungry bite he popped the rest of taco goodness in his mouth. Smiling, I handed him the next one and watched to see what he would do. Without a second glance he ate all 6 soft tacos!

This of course did not mean the next time we had tacos that he would be eating them with a mound of lettuce in full view. I continued to make him his little taco burritos with the hidden lettuce, and he continued to eat them. Still, I couldn’t get him to eat a tiny piece of lettuce from my salad, even with his favorite ranch dressing (which he typically used for dipping celery).

I continued to offer him a bit of salad each time we had it and he continued to swallow it like a pill or tell me flat out “I don’t wanna want the salad.”

Then one day I had an idea. We had made homemade tacos the night before, and I had planned on making Andrew leftovers for lunch, but I decided to try something else. I took a plate and put about a third of a cup shredded lettuce in the center. Next, I completely covered the lettuce with taco meat. I topped that with lots of shredded cheese, which he loved, added a couple of dollops of sour cream and some tortilla chips on the side. I brought him his plate and gave him a fork. He immediately began to shovel it into his mouth. Just like with the taco he finally spied the lettuce; he took a second to think it over and continued to eat. Because he wasn’t able to tell me what he thought about this, I can only assume that he was not going to refuse that yummy taco meat because of a little lettuce.

Over time, I would add a little more lettuce each time I served him his “taco plate”. Once he got used to the lettuce, I started adding salsa to the lettuce before adding the sour cream. He was now loving his taco salads!

My experiment had been so successful that one day at lunch I decided to give him a real salad. But like before, I knew I had to make it tolerable. On top of the lettuce, I put a couple of grape tomatoes cut into quarters, then I added warm shredded chicken, shredded cheese and topped it with his new favorite salad dressing “chipolte ranch”, and of course a dollop of sour cream. He loved it and I was so happy to see him enjoying something that he had been so reluctant to try. The day he finally ate a salad with no meat was a real accomplishment for him.

It’s been years since that first “taco salad”, and salad is now one of Andrew’s favorite foods! He loves it with lots of lettuce, tomatoes, cuke, red onion, even olives! He also loves carrots, both cooked and raw. His discovery of liking carrots came about from having a few tiny pieces of carrot in a beef stew. As with the salad, each time we had beef stew I would add a few more carrots to his bowl.

As I said, Andrew was never a truly difficult eater, but he can be rigid at times about certain things that he hasn’t tried, and not just food. For example, he was terrified of the sky bridge at the Providence Place Mall. It’s an enclosed bridge to the mall that is all windows. When you look out you can see the cars going underneath it. I had tried numerous times to get him to walk over it to go into the mall. He’d see the bridge ahead, stop dead in his tracks and start yelling “NO”! Then he’d turn around and start walking away. I understood his fear because I HATE heights, but I also cognitively understood that is was safe to walk across the sky bridge, something he didn’t understand.

I shared the story of Andrew’s fear with John, one of the guys who provided support for him. He said he’d take him to the mall and give it a try.

On a rainy Sunday John took Andrew to the mall and parked where they would have to go over the sky bridge. Later he told me Andrew was very hesitant as he approached it, and then with John’s encouragement he very quickly walked across. On the way back over the bridge he was much less nervous. John heaped praise on him, and so did I when he got home.

I knew Andrew felt proud of himself for trying something uncomfortable. When he was with me, Andrew knew that if he got loud and refused, I wouldn’t push it. I think he was able to do this with John because he was fairly new to Andrew. I also believe Andrew wasn’t sure what would happen if he tried refusing with John. Or maybe it was because he was with another guy about his age. Andrew can’t tell me, so I’ll never know… I believe it was this experience that led to him being much more comfortable on escalators, and years later to be willing to ride the Soaring Eagle Zip Line (google.com) at the Rogers Williams Park Zoo. I was shocked to discover that he braved those heights and loved it!

Today Andrew tends to take novel experiences in stride because he has learned that trying, often leads to very good things. As for me, I’ll always be looking for opportunities for Andrew to expand his horizon and have new experiences.