What will the future hold?

Let me preface this post by saying that I am not a parent and I can only imagine what it is like to rear a child. But...

I couldn't resist sharing this article from the New York Times on the "Chicken Finger Pandemic" that is "gripping" the nation. David Kamp is spot on! I am amazed at how often children will eat nothing but "kids food." My niece and nephew, who are limited eaters, though they love us, hate to have dinner with their Uncle Jon and I because we make them eat "Sarah and Jon Food." That means NOT chicken fingers, hot dogs, or pizza.

But still, if we raise kids that only eat kids food, or, to bring me back into my librarian line, kids who only watch TV, what kinds of adults can we anticipate? What will happen to artichokes, pancetta, or gefilte fish? What will happen to Dickens, Bronte, and Faulkner? Will they only be what is on the Food Network or out in the latest HBO remake?

Every holiday and birthday, my niece and nephew can count on books from their aunt, the librarian. Those books often sit in the corners of their room, collecting dust. But they are there, waiting for the day that the power goes out or they are sent to their room or they accept my invitation to read on the lawn on a sunny day. They have books in their lives, and "Sarah and Jon food," and I've just got to keep putting both in front of them in the hopes that they'll realize that what's good for them is really, truly, actually good.