To say no to pizza pasta again?

[karmakameleon]

So I'm trying to arrange dinner with a friend and her family and she's suggested a pizza pasta place. Fairly standard kid food but my problem is that DS (3yrs old) doesn't like it. DS will happily eat Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Mexican amongst other things, so I don't think he can be described as fussy, but just not pizza and pasta.

As you imagine this comes up regularly when we eat out with friends and in the past I've taken the view that DS can have some bread and fill up on ice cream after. But this time I've had enough and put my foot down as I just feel it's not fair on DS to always be the one that can't eat and ends up going home hungry. Also I know that DS really doesn't like pizza pasta as I've offered it to him a hundred times but I'm guessing that my friend's child hasn't tried half the options I've suggested. (The specific places I've mentioned to her all do some mild options in smaller sized portions although not specifically a children's menu.) And if the worst came to the worst, surely her DS could pick at his main and then have lots of ice cream for pudding like mine has had to in the past?

Anyway, the whole thing is proving quite traumatic, she's not taking up any of my suggestions and sticking fairly rigidly to her original choice and I'm getting the feeling that the whole thing is off unless I do as I'm told compromise. So now I'm starting to feel guilty and think maybe I'm being a bit unreasonable as it is a fairly standard choice. But then it's not DS's fault he doesn't like it...

Jamie's Italian is one of the few he likes. Don't think the actual chain makes a difference as I'm more interested in the principle. And also because I can see that it's going to become a bigger issue as he grows and needs a proper meal.

Kids' tastes can change drastically over the years though.

And you don't always have to meet up at restaurants with friends. There are cafes, bakeries, picnics, buffet-options

Your ds orders? All by himself? Ha ha. I've got a mental picture of a 3-year-old perusing a menu and debating whether to go for the tasting menu or the a la carte as the foie gras is supposed to be very good at this establishment.

So most people don't read the menu to their children and ask them to choose what they want to eat? Is that really so very pretentious.

I think this issue is a big as you want to make it really

Much ado about nothing. If this is genuinely causing you annoyance, the obvious solution is not to eat out with your friends. Meet up after lunch. Problem solved.

Also, it is entirely possible that your DS' tastes will change as he gets older. I can't count the number of children I have known who were adventurous eaters as toddlers and later drastically reduced their diets to bland and boring fare. Of course, that may not happen with your DS but it is quite a common pattern.

I've suggested giraffe and nandos so I think there are at least two definite kid friendly options.

Having read the suggestions you've made, if your friend turns them all down then she's being ridiculously picky, and I would then not go.

OP, I'm trying to find a way to say this nicely: this is not about your son, it's all about you. You are overthinking this massively.

Your son's growth & nutrition will not be adversely affected by eating out on occasion with this group of friends.

I think you're just painting yourself into a corner & have lost all perspective on a really small issue.

But if one person only eats pizza pasta it's not bad manners to insist on that?

Is anyone else reading this and thinking "world gorn mad"? Pages and pages over which restaurants a 3-year-old likes? Or just me?!

Unbelievable!!

Do you read the Japanese to him? With correct pronunciation? Do you bother with the translated menu or stick to the characters? (Sometimes something of the flavour of the dish is lost when Westernised...) Do you say, "That's fish with rice round the edge," or is he intimately familiar with most sushi options? For goodness sake I hope you warn him off the fugu...

Sorry OP I'm going to bow out now, good luck though

If there's a Giraffe where you plan to meet then that seems like a reasonable compromise - a quick glance at the kids' menu suggests that they have pizza, pasta and Mexican chilli children's meals . The sample adults' menu seems to include a world menu which includes the stuff you like.

It sounds as though you are both being unreasonable, because you are both expecting everyone else to agree with the meal which happens to be your own child's favourite, rather than something everybody will eat. When you are trying to accommodate a large number of people, including small children, then everyone has to compromise. You shouldn't have to agree to somewhere which only serves pizza or pasta, but more recent posts seems to indicate that you don't want your child to be bored with a meat/ veg/ salad type dish which might be served in a pizza restaurant - you're ruling out a lot of options which aren't pizza or pasta.

If you are that desperate to have a Japanese meal, why don't you just go with your husband and son another time?

How many 3 year olds understand a Japanese menu?

So there are no other three year olds that reg eat at wagamama's and understand the menu?

I think yours is the only one you know karma!

Obvs Japanese children only eat chicken and potatoes, very very bland eaters.

YANBU OP - you are asking for them to put themselves out for your son ONE time, after you have done it for theirs repeatedly. You won't get anywhere on here though. Having children who only eat beige food seems to be the norm on MN.

By the way, I've assumed that 'pizza pasta' is intended to be a catch-all phrase covering all pasta meals , pizza, and the type of restaurant which serves them. I like pizza , I like pasta, but I wouldn't like them together (or one masquerading as the other).

Surely the point of going out to eat with friends is to have a good time with your friends where everyone has something they can eat.

Why should anyone's tastes trump anyone's? If you want adventurous food go out on your own and if you want a meal with friends comprise on somewhere where there's something nice for everyone to eat.

However I can't see what's wrong with giraffe!

I do sympathise, my children only eat Icelandic preserved puffin and cheese made from unicorn milk, and they insist that the menu is written in ancient Sanskrit - otherwise they just get bored. It's so tiresome trying to arrange meals with our beige friends.