I have learned that the best way to get someone to lose interest in a food is by oversating. I confess I over Doritoed my son ad nauseum.  He just loved them. My plan was to buy in bulk and I did this over and over again. The other kids in the neighborhood came around for the Dorito experiment and partook in my largesse.  Doritos showed up at lunch, after school, parties at the house and so on. He now quietly removes them from his lunch box or gifts them to his buddies during lunch.

Now that I have broken him of the corn chip addiction I find myself in a more difficult spot trying to come up with alternatives. Hoisted by my own petard as it were, I went through a series of emotions. To review the situation: I originally was happy to find something that he liked to eat though they were expensive and I did not enjoy shelling out the money for them.

A new wrinkle in the daily functions of our routine. What was once a simple task has taken on deep implications. I am now happy he is over the craze buy I'm stuck with a question mark as to what to include in his lunch box that he will eat.What would you like in your lunch box dear? Grapes, p&j, apple juice. How about a Table Talk blueberry pie? No thanks as he hangs his head. Why? I thought you liked them. I do but the other kids don't. I ask myself, what do the other kids have to do with this?  We trade food, he tells me.

Lots of questions pop into my noggin. Is he eating a balanced lunch? Does he sense my ambivalence over this food thing? Does he feel disappointed over not having appropriate trading food?  I came to the realization that this has less to do with food appreciation and more to do with peer approval, feeling liked, and bringing in what his pals like. I get it.

School days are upon us and as caretakers of the lunch box we must take into consideration other children's influence on our own. Off he goes in the early A.M., pants too big and draped at the legs, lunch box in hand, book bag strapped off one shoulder, he's a vision of pride heading to an institution of higher learning ready to sponge up all the news dealt to him by the imparters of knowledge and to take in some socialization skills. He has grasped onto a simple lesson. There is power in knowledge and power in the peer group.  Doritos have begun to show up in his lunch box once again.  He still contends he is not a fan but his lunchmates like them. I've done my job.