Why Bananas Are a Toddler’s Favorite Food—and a Mom’s Worst Nightmare
I know what you’re thinking… is this really an entire post about bananas? Yes, yes it is. If you are a mom of a toddler, you know. I can EASILY write 1000 words about bananas, but I’ll keep it short(er), because you probably have five minutes before your very own toddler starts screaming because their banana is “too curved.”
No one tells you when you become a mom that bananas might eventually ruin your entire morning on a regular basis.
That they will be the cause of some of the biggest toddler tantrums you’ll ever witness.
Bananas now account for approximately 47% of my daily stress.
Do I open it, or do I let her open it?
If I let her open it, will it break in half and ruin her life?
Does she want the whole thing? Or just a piece?
Do I let her break it off to the size of her liking? That’s a risk because she will undoubtedly decide she actually wanted the whole banana and then throw it on the ground.
Then there’s the general size of the banana, which I have very little control over, especially when we are running low. Sometimes it’s too big, sometimes it’s “NOT A BIG ONE!”
Is it going to have a spot or bruise on it? Please god let it finally be THE perfect banana this time. I really need this right now.
Will she change her mind after she makes that decision? (100% yes.)
Will she also take one bite and throw it on the floor like a tiny potassium-fueled maniac? (Also 100% yes.)
You don’t realize how many things can be wrong with bananas until you become a mom. Too curved, too straight, too mushy, not mushy enough, broken in half, peeled too much, peeled too little, has a dot on it, touched the wrong plate… honestly, it’s a miracle any banana has ever made it into a toddler’s mouth without a full-blown meltdown.
It’s almost always a lose-lose with bananas. Yet somehow, my daughter keeps asking for them every day, if not every hour.
And I keep buying them.
Because despite the drama, the betrayal, the emotional whiplash… bananas are somehow one of her favorite foods.
I think I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve handed her a banana and the delivery has been successful—no meltdowns, no rage, no floor fruit. Just a clean, peaceful transaction. Those moments feel like a true toddler miracle.
Instead of advice like “sleep when the baby sleeps,” I wish someone had told me when I was pregnant: Never give your child a banana until they’re at least five years old.
That would have been a solid sanity saver.
In addition to the banana tantrums, there is also always a rotting, half-eaten banana somewhere in my car, hidden at the bottom of the backpack, or in someone’s room hiding under a toy. Just last week we found half a banana in the garden in the front yard. That was a new one.
Banana stress is just part of my lifestyle now. And I have at least two more years of it to look forward to. At this point, when I hear the word banana, my eye starts to twitch.
So if bananas have become your emotional support produce, or you find yourself negotiating peace treaties over fruit that was requested and then immediately rejected, just know: you’re not alone. We’re all out here trying to survive the banana years—stocking up at the store, tossing the brown ones into smoothies, and questioning how a 35-cent fruit managed to take over our entire lives.
Let’s not lose our minds together,
Tori
