Something Fishy Is Going On With That Kid

Some kids go for the Chicken McNuggets. Others like pizza. My little weirdo? Sushi.

It 's taken me by surprise. A few months ago, I read an adorable little book called Yoko to her (by Rosemary Wells, author of the "Max and Ruby" books) and in this book, the main character gets teased by her classmates for bringing sushi to eat for lunch everyday. The teacher organizes an international food day to try to get the kids to try Yoko's sushi and foster a little multicultural understanding, but in the end, only one kid in the class tries the sushi. But it's OK; he and Yoko become good friends and share their different cultures' food. Aww. Anyway, after reading this, Ainsley went on and on about sushi so we took her to our favorite little Thai restaurant and let her try a California roll.

We didn't think she liked it. She took two bites, and said that was enough, and that was fine with us. I myself didn't think I liked sushi, but I enjoyed that California roll we got that night, and Friday night after a loooong day at school (we had an open house until 7) I was kinda thinking I might want to give it another shot.

Here's the weird thing: I had been thinking about our little Thai place's sushi the whole way home, and when I got home and we started discussing where we were going to eat, Ainsley immediately and without prompt from me piped up with, "Let's go to the sushi place!" Cue the Twilight Zone music.

We went, and hubby ordered his usual pad thai, and Ainsley ordered her popcorn chicken, and I decided a California roll would just hit the spot. Ains's chicken came out first, and she started inhaling it. But when the sushi arrived, she started pointing with her chopstick and asked for a piece.

And she ate it. An entire piece. And said, "Yummy!" And before it was all said and done, she ate two pieces and said she wanted to eat more next time we go there.

I know a California roll is a pretty Americanized version of sushi, and there's nothing offensive in it, but still. Wow. I love it that she's open to trying things, and that she has broader tastes than I had at that age. There's not much I don't like now, but as a kid I was picky. I ate the "crispies" off my mom's fried chicken but wouldn't touch the meat, ate the icing off of our family's favorite jelly dougnnuts but wouldn't eat the pastry itself, and wouldn't so much as look at pizza (weird, I know.) Sushi probably would've sent me into a gagging fit.

She can be picky, too, and sometimes gets worked up over those green things we insist on putting on her plate, so this whole sushi thing has me very impressed. I guess either Yoko had a very strong impression on her, or that Thai place's sushi is just that darn good.

If it's the first one, I need to find a children's book that makes eating salad cool...