Mother-Son Opposites

Aaron and I have noticed a trend in Caleb's eating. He likes nearly every food that I don't like. I like most foods, but I strongly dislike the few I don't like. About once a year, I try these disliked foods, hoping my palate has changed. So far no dice. Maybe you're curious about these foods I don't like? Here's the list:

• Olives (yet I like capers and cook with olive oil)
  
• Tomatoes, uncooked (cooked/processed is fine)
• Melons (I actually gag when I try them, and I *want* to like melon)
  
• Peanuts and cashews (I tolerate cashews a bit more, and I love peanut butter)

Besides those foods, I also generally do not like fruit WITH chocolate. I don't like chocolate-covered fruits (yes, including strawberries and cherries). I don't like chocolate candies that have fruit in them. Oddly I do like raspberry filling with chocolate cake.

We all have some variation of these quirks. Aaron, for example, does not like sweet potatoes ("neither sweet nor potato," he says). My son has few food quirks - doesn't like crust on his sandwiches (normal preschool thing, I think), not a big fan of cooked greens (e.g., kale), hasn't liked ice cream until very recently and I still don't believe him.

But guess what? He does like every single food I don't like. His lunch today was sliced turkey, an entire sliced tomato, and some applesauce. He finished the tomato and didn't have room to finish the applesauce. When we had salad a few weeks ago, he whined for olives the entire meal. He looks at me like I'm nuts when I say no thank you to his offer to share any kind of melon. He also offered me peanuts during a football game and did NOT want to take no for an answer.

Funny kid. I wonder whether his tastes are genuinely his or whether he just wants to push my food buttons. :)