My kids aren't real picky eaters, but sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get them to finish what is on their plate.

The other night every time we glanced at Clay's plate, his chicken was still laying there untouched. Barry told him he had to eat his chicken, so he put a piece in his mouth.

After a couple of minutes of trying to eat his chicken, he told Barry he couldn't stop chewing it.

I guess I cooked it a little too long. That's not hard to do with chicken. I'll admit I'm not the best cook, so it's not like they're used to gourmet meals every night. If I were to fix a gourmet meal, I would be wasting my time anyway. It would be something they weren't used to and even if it tasted good, they still wouldn't eat it if it didn't look like something their used to eating.

You know how kids are; if it doesn't look good, they don't want anything to do with it.

Barry seems to think the kids should like the same food he likes. I try to tell him that their taste buds aren't exactly like his.

My taste buds have changed since I've grown older anyway, so one day I know they are going to love all the things they hate now. I don't expect the kids to like what I like, just because I don't want to eat the stuff they eat.

For example, I don't like pickles on burgers. They do, and I would hate to drown my corndog in ketchup, mustard, and barbeque sauce, while they slather it on.

So I'm pretty fair. If they don't want to eat the Chinese I'm eating, I'll just fix them something else. Sometimes it's easier to fix macaroni and cheese two or three times a day, just to get them to eat.