The Washington herald., 1916-05-17

In many homes. there is a constant
struggle on the part of the mother to
induce the ChildIen to cat food that she
thinks they ought to have but that is
distasteful to them. Only a few weeks
ago. ! was n guest for several days in
the home OF a Young mother the dauEh-
ter Of one of my Oldest friends For
dinner the day of my arrival one Of the
dishes was baked parsnips. When Fred
dy, the small son OF the house, was
served, he protested against the helping
of parsnips that was put upon his plate.
You know I don't like them. mother
he objected They make me spit up,
and they always have"
But parsnips are good for you. Fred. "
the father came to the aid Of the mother.
You should learn to like them"
Eat what YOU have on your plate,
SON. his mother quietly bade the boy.
I remembered my own early dislike
Of that vegetable-the musty smelly
taste. l called it, with which my senses.
both of smell and Of taste, were over
powered whenever tried to cat parsnips.
which appeared frequently on our home
table because my mother was very fond
CT them and we had plenty Of them out
Of our own garden. True, I did learn 70
like them in time. The early repugnance
passed away and find now that I have
cultivated quite a liking for them. bat
as I saw Fred's brave attempt to swal-
low his portion in obedience to his
mothers command I knew Just how he
felt. The same old musty taste REQUIRED
IN my own mouth. And when presently
the little fellow slipped out of his chair
and left the rooTA. overcome by the
nausea he declared he always got from
3v,- I1I at n
it myself and really felt like getting up
and following him.
I believe children really like very few
things to begin with. Their taste for
many staple articles Of food is entirely
cultivated. They have ineXplicable dis
likes for many things that later in life
they learn to eat and even grow fond OF.
With my own younger daughter, Har-
riet, I had lively struggle over eating
meat. The child was inordinately fond
of sweets and of some Vegeta bles. and,
unless she were carefully watched, would
seize every opportunity to gorge her
self on those things. In spite OF my
efforts. her illy-balanced diet caused a
form of intestinal indigestion and We
took her to a physician. who said she
must be made to eat a little good beef
steak or roast beef once each day.
cooked the meat as palatably as knew
how and I served it IN all sorts Of odd
and attractive ways 20 please her eye as
well as her palate. but each day the
same struggle recurred. She could not
eat meat she declared. 1t stuck in her
throat and Choked her. 1t nauseated her
and made her spit up" Finally I re-
membered how had been tortured by the
articles of diet I disliked and was made
to eat and I began to wonder IT, after
all, nature does not guide US to a GER
tain extent If we have not perverted our
appetites ny over-indulgence
I began to wonder what necessary in
gradients of her diet Harriet was leaving
out and to look about to find a substi-
tute for the meat that was so distatefu
to her. The story of my quest is toe
long to tell here, but I made a study
of a balanced ration and tried to in.
clude in her menu the elements needed
for good digestion and perfect nutrition
Remember that was before these good