We've never forced A to try stuff, because when I was growing up, my mother would force me to not only try things, but to eat things I had already tried many times and didn't like, and I got in trouble for showing any sign of not liking it. I wasn't allowed to make a face, or say I didn't like it, and heaven help me if my gag reflex kicked in. I still have a difficult relationship to food because of it, and I won't do that to my kids. We've always encouraged them to try new things, and we had a sticker chart for a while, but it never really helped and he had such anxiety that it wasn't worth it. Every once in a while he'll try something new, and I hope as he grows that it will get better. I was always very picky, and a lot of it was texture-related, and I've gotten a lot better as an adult now that I know it's OK not to like everything and there's no one forcing me to continue to eat it if I don't like it. So I'm hopeful the same will hold true for him as he matures.
I don't know what Lidl is like in the US. I'm pretty sure it's a German store? But it's a lot like Aldi over here, though Lidl generally is larger and has more of a selection. I've never been to an Aldi in the US, but from what I hear from people on here, it seems like Aldi over there is a lot bigger than it is here. There is an Aldi 2 minutes walking from my house, but I almost never go there because I don't like it. There's no selection, they only have the most basic things, etc. Lid'l does at least have MORE, but still not like an average grocery store. The biggest difference I see is that Lidl does weekly sales where they have certain products, just for that one week. Like they have American week and you can get specialty popcorn, chicken strips, onion rings (but they aren't real onion rings. They are pureed onion mxed with batter and deep fried), maple syrup, etc...things you can't usually get here. During French week, you can get macarons, cheeses, brioche, etc. During Asian week you can get mochi, gyoza, etc. At Easter or Christmas, you'll see a lot of specialty items for your holiday dinner, like vienette type ice creams, green beans wrapped in bacon, potato gratins, etc. But I don't know how that all translates to the US stores.
