M.A.
We are raising 2 granddaughters, 13 and 14, the oldest is a really picky eater. The first 5 years of their lives, their mom would take them for 3 hours - 1 1/2 weeks a couple times a month (to show them off to friends), and while she had them, she would feed them nothing but junk: cookies, candy, pop tarts... We finally got court custody of them, so she haan't been able to take them from us for 9 years. Still, eating is a problem. Once in a while we can get them to try something new, but the oldest usually spits it out and goes on with her own eating habits. They do cook for themselves, thankfully, as I refuse to fix more than 1 meal at a time. They are slightly overweight, but otherwise physically healthy. The oldest has problems that her counselor says could be the drug-baby syndrom, as her mother was on drugs while she nursed her for 2 months. The second one is just depressed once in a while for "no reason". They are separated from their mother, and their father doesn't care about them. There are lots of emotional problems involved. Eating what they feel their mother would feed them could be their way of "being with her". We don't keep sweets around very often, but when I get a baking feeling, I'll make a few dozen cookies or a cake, and within hours they are all gone, if I'm not there to catch them snitching them! Since there isn't anything else I can do to get them to eat healthy, we're just going on with life. Raising grandkids is a lot different than raising your own children, and I believe it is the same with step-children. Our situation was a yours-mine-our family early in our marriage, but we didn't have "his" one son, just my son and daughter, and our 3 kids. His son had eating problems, and today at 34, he weighs well over 350 pounds! Just love your step-son for who he is. Keep offering something new, but don't try to force.