An unlikely ambassador

There appears to be an unwritten rule here that after school playdates run through tea time (essentially the children's dinner hour). Like so many local customs, this one runs sort of counter to my ideas about how long children really need to play or how much down time ought to be built into their days, but as there's no true harm to occasional 6 p.m. playdate pickups other than my own scheduling inconvenience, I see no reason not to let Julia accept such invitations when she receives them.

Earlier this week, I went to retrieve her at a friend's house after tea and was met at the door by an apologetic mum. "I roasted a chicken and served broccoli and mashed potatoes," she told me as she ushered me into the kitchen where the girls were polishing off large bowls of chocolate ice cream," but Julia told me that she doesn't eat any of those things???"

"No, I'm afraid Julia's an extraordinarily picky eater," I replied with a smile, "and the fact that many of the foods here in the UK are a little unfamiliar to her has diminished her repertoire even further. I'm so sorry that she didn't eat what you had prepared. It smells delicious."

"We asked her what she likes to eat," Julia's friend's mum responded, "and she told us that she likes macaroni and cheese, hot dogs, pizza, pasta and grilled cheese." (It figures that the kid didn't mention any of the fruits and vegetables that she enjoys. I'm sure the British equivalent of DYFS will be knocking on my door any day now to take away my malnourished children.) I nodded, not quite able to look the mother whose children eat roasted chicken, boccoli and potatoes in the eye when faced with direct evidence of my own kid's lousy eating habits. "Those are the mainstays of her diet at the moment," I agreed, a bit apologetically.

Julia's friend and the friend's older sister were wide eyed. "We looove macaroni and cheese," one of them advised me with the air of an adventurous eater. "Hot dogs," the other one whispered under her breath incredulously. "It all sounds so American," the mum smiled at me. "So exotic..."