Cooked or Instant?

Like most parents, I try to get my kids to eat new things. With more or less - usually less - success.

But do you ever secretly hope your child will hate something new - that you like - just so you can get their rejects?

My husband and I have differing tastes when it comes to chocolate pudding. I prefer the kind you cook on the stovetop, then chill. He prefers instant. But we'll both eat whatever's available.

Usually, he's the one who gets a hankering for pudding, so he makes it, and he chooses to make the instant kind. That's fair.

But the other night, we had only a box of the cooking mix available in the pantry. So he made that instead. {Worked out great for me: The pudding I like, and I didn't even have to make it myself.}

We soon realized the kids had never had this kind of pudding before. So they all tried it for the first time. My son and one of the girls took a small bite, declared they didn't like the skim top, and proceeded to eat the pudding beneath the skim.

I gave them a fair chance - they tried it, they didn't like it - so I asked for their "waste." They gladly relinquished it. Mmm-mmmm!

Second daughter came along a little later, and put a big scoop of pudding in her mouth. That scoop consisted almost entirely of the skim layer.

I watched her with bated breath. Will she like it or not? Will I be 3-for-3 in getting my kids' leftovers?

It didn't take long to find out. From the look on her face, I thought she was going to vomit right there in front of us. She was repulsed, to say the least. It was safe to say that, no, she doesn't like the skim layer of cooked pudding. She gladly handed over what was left of her portion.

Jackpot! I was one lucky mama!

Yeah, I kind of felt bad for hoping my kids would hate a new food, just so I could get more of it.

But not really...