Althouse: "He nervously unwrapped the burrito and took a small bite while I pretended to not be watching. He tells me 'I think I had a mushroom but I'm not sure. It's good anyways!' and I was just !!!!!!!!! so proud!!!!!"

August 20, 2022

"He nervously unwrapped the burrito and took a small bite while I pretended to not be watching. He tells me 'I think I had a mushroom but I'm not sure. It's good anyways!' and I was just !!!!!!!!! so proud!!!!!"

A touching tale of brotherly love and ARFID (at Reddit).

(ARFID is avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder.)

16 comments:

Mike said...: Absolutely a nice story. I had an older sister--since passed. She looked out for her two younger brothers--and we enjoyed tormenting her when we were kids. But we shared each other's growth and successes.; 8/20/22, 10:12 AM
Joe Smith said...: The synopsis tells it all...no real need to click through for the story unless you want the comments.

The moral of the story might be to get the kid sloshed before dinner.

I can eat certain foods raw but can't stand them when they are cooked...weird.; 8/20/22, 10:29 AM
kcl766 said...: I have a 56 year old nephew who still cannot eat if any food group touches another on his plate. I first noticed it when he was a youngster and assumed he would outgrow that behavior. Nope.; 8/20/22, 10:39 AM
Jersey Fled said...: God bless big sisters.; 8/20/22, 10:52 AM
Tom T. said...: My 9-year-old is very limited in what he will eat. It's not a question of bland; he'll eat spices, vegetables. Multiple ingredients, toppings, sauces, though, put him off. It's a pain, but we work around it, and he tries new things bit by bit. Getting him involved in prep can help.

For him, it's tied up with other anxieties and ADHD, and we're working on it. Trying to force him doesn't accomplish anything, as he's quite willing to not eat.; 8/20/22, 10:55 AM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: I'm thinking about my earlier comment on the pace of a trail.

Could ARFID also be another thing that has been... developmentally delayed, other than the headline graving non gender conforming?

Jonathan Haidt - '3 great untruths to stop telling kids—and ourselves' may provide some clues.

Link to video; 8/20/22, 11:23 AM
Quaestor said...: ARFRID foreshortens the gustatorial enjoyment of its sufferers only. Someone's irrational avoidance of edible fungus means more portobello for me. However, EMOUD offends the aesthetic pleasure of everyone except the patient.

So will the grateful younger brother return the favor and pry that trouble-making key off Big Sis's keyboard? Someone needs to intervene immediately, and taking a crowbar to the keyboard is more gentlemanly than whacking her with a stick every time her wayward fingers stray toward the northwest corner.

Antique typewriters often had no exclamation key; the user was required to type a full stop and then backspace and apply an apostrophe over the dot. This tedious process had the salubrious effect of reducing the thoughtless use of that anti-laconic punctuation.; 8/20/22, 11:46 AM
Quaestor said...: "The moral of the story might be to get the kid sloshed before dinner."

The morel of the story is yet to be eaten.; 8/20/22, 11:49 AM
just another dad said...: There's a lot more to eating disorders than anorexia and bulimea. ARFID for one, and there is a strong correlation between ARFID and the autism spectrum. But also the emerging orthorexia - an unhealthy obsession with clean eating. And the reddit post doesn't mention it, but mushrooms brings to mind the "mold" toxicity and the need to "detox", which is best described as a massive conspiracy theory.; 8/20/22, 12:35 PM
Gahrie said...: I don't eat mushrooms. I don't mind their taste, but the texture bugs me.; 8/20/22, 3:35 PM
richlb said...: I wasn't sure what kind of mushroom being referenced in the blurb.

I don't eat eggs. I'm not allergic, I just don't like the look of them. When used in baking I don't care, but anything still egg-y is off limits. It makes breakfast with others quite difficult. I don't make a big deal but people always ask why I'm ordering a BLT at 8am.; 8/20/22, 4:04 PM
Clyde said...: You know, when I was a kid, we never had these problems. We ate what Mom put in front of us, or we could go hungry. We never went hungry. We most definitely were not coddled.; 8/20/22, 4:34 PM
steppin' razor said...: Have had this condition since age 4...and I'm retired now. My parents were frantic and I grew up thin and undernourished, didn't start bulking up till after college when I could cook for myself and eat quantities of my limited diet. The appearance, texture, or odor of the food...not the taste!...creates the aversion. Having had many years to reflect, I believe that my brain wrongfully perceives the objectionable food as "rotting", and we all avoid rotting food. The misperception is not an intellectual act....it is a misplaced gut instinct. If for whatever reason I end up eating something....such as Indian curry...the block goes away...but I can't be forced by any measures to eat the unwanted food. One suggestion, which someone above also made, is to involve the child in the food preparation from the ground up to re-train the perception and on a gut level let him see that the food is not tainted or threatening.; 8/20/22, 5:14 PM
alanc709 said...: Gahrie said...
I don't eat mushrooms. I don't mind their taste, but the texture bugs me.

Most foods I avoid are due to texture, such as mushrooms. Don't mind the taste of some onions, but can't stand the feel of them. Liver, however, is just vile.; 8/20/22, 7:07 PM
ceowens said...: Get your butt drafted. I do not order it but if served, I can eat liver.; 8/20/22, 8:14 PM
alanc709 said...: I don't need to get drafted, I served my 8 years. And I wouldn't eat liver again to get an early out.; 8/20/22, 10:06 PM