We always say, “what’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” But for children of this generation, name is everything. Yesterday, I made Vada( a South indian crispy fried snack) and asked my son if he would like to have one. If you would’ve seen the face he made, you would’ve assumed that Vada is yuckiest thing to be had! Well, mothers are creative when it comes to feeding their children and they never give up, do they? So today, I added some vegetables to the batter and served the Vada with ketchup, rechristened it as nuggets and my son gobbled it up. Dosa (South Indian version of a pancake) anyone? Nah!!! What about pancakes? Of course, why not? Children are immensely impacted by the television and some items are made to appear so delectable that without ever having them, kids assume that those items are lip-smaking. But what we serve everyday, is what they eat and know the taste of…so they become fussy and choosy. When my son’s teacher asked the children in his class during an online session which fruit they like most, without batting an eyelid, my son answered, “blueberry”. I heard his answer from the kitchen and was surprised because I had never ever bought it and was sure my son hasn’t tasted it ever. When I asked him how blueberry became his favourite fruit, he immediately replied that it was indeed delicious because Masha (a cartoon character he watches on TV) said so. Well….Masha is able to convince children better than mothers. So all that mothers can do now is to rename their preparations and allow their children to enjoy what they would otherwise despise. So, everything’s in the name folks! Try it and the results are imminent.
