I thought of this blog by watching my kids eat dinner tonight. One of my daughters put a mountain of ketchup on her hotdog and bit into it, shooting the ketchup out the sides of her mouth. Instead of using her napkin to wipe her mouth, she used her shirt. My other daughter was eating oatmeal and making sculptures with it. I thought to myself, why do kids play with their food instead of just eating it? And they are messy too. My kids are constantly making a mess when we eat. And it’s not just on the table, but on the chair, the floor, their clothes, their hair, etc.

Kids seem to look at food very differently than adults. Kids see food as more than something to eat, but something to play with as well. The food doesn’t have to be prepared either. One day my kids were pretending to run a restaurant, so they had a few items from out of the cupboard such as flour, bowls, spoons, glasses, etc. They decided to have a flour fight and it got a little out of control. I thought it was pretty funny (my wife didn’t) and thought it was strange how they didn’t mind getting the flour all over themselves. Maybe it’s just me, but it didn’t seem all that appealing.

Watching my kids play with their food reminds me of the younger brother, Randy, in the movie A Christmas Story. He would constantly play with his food and never eat it. This view on food must be a kid thing, because adults don’t really seem to play with their food or have too many food fights.

Will