Kids and Food

Food. Let's face it. I love food, and I know a lot of other people that would agree with me. Most adults aren't picky when it comes to food. Half the time, we are so busy that it's a hunt through the cupboards and frig to find something quick and easy. Kids, on the other hand, are different. They are still exploring the wonderful world of tasty food. Of all my years of taking care of kids, I have never come across one that hasn't had some issue with food. There's the picky eater, the meager eater, and the over eater. How can you know when the over eater is truly full or if the meager eater has eaten their fill? Or, are they truly hungry or just bored? I know I eat out of boredom all the time. "When in doubt...eat food" seems to be the motto for my brain.
The two kids that I have now both seem to always have a starving stomach. Miss Magee will munch on cereal between 7:30 and 9, eat breakfast (consisting of pancakes, eggs, waffles, more cereal, or yogurt) while I feed Little Man, then by 11 she wants more food. She usually has lunch at noon and tends to eat more than I do and then finally goes down for a nap, but you can bet that the first few words out of her mouth after nap will be "snack?". She's not extremely picky about food, but she wants to eat what she suggests, not what I suggest. With her, I don't know if she's bored or hungry. At times, an ultimatum suffices, and we go outside to do something, other times it's like WW3 to get her out of the kitchen. Then, when I do let her eat something, half way through she's ready to move onto the next thing. I have yet to perfect reasoning with a 2 year old.
Then there's Little Man who is truly just beginning the food exploration. He loves his bottle, and thankfully they are scheduled so we both know when they're coming. Baby food is yet another adventure I get to embark on while Miss Magee is creating WW3 in the background. Thankfully the spitting and attempting to grab the spoon have not yet begun, simply because he just loves food, but my luck those wonderful things are not too far away! So far, fruits are a definite love of his (as is with most babies), and he likes butternut squash but not the regular squash, and occasionally he will eat peas and sweet potatoes. The wonderful meals that come all together, you know...the vegetable dinner, beef stew, chicken and rice, or turkey and rice, are a no go in his mind. One spoonful of them, and all you get is tears, crying, and whining for something better. But, I can't blame him. The stuff smells like cat food! *Poor kids* He does love his cheerios and puffs (as does his sister), and they are my saving grace the rest of the time in between feedings.
I really have no specific reason as to why I decided to post on such a topic, other than because this is what I deal with daily. I have come to find the face of refusal and dislike as comical, and the challenge of finding new foods they will like as an adventure.