While eating dinner with our friends:
Maddie: "Mommy- You forgot to get my drink."
Pepaw (Friend's father): "Here, do you want some of my Coke?"
Maddie: "Peeepaaaaw, Coke is junk food and I don't eat junk food."
At which point, she turned to her plate and promptly ate the rest of her dinner of Cheetos and a hot dog.
I know that my daughter is the pickiest eater in the world, so I asked her what she wanted for her dinner. I was cooking salmon patties and fried potatoes for Justin and myself. I know- healthy, right? I offered to cook her macaroni and cheese or mashed potatoes instead of the fried potatoes. She told me that she just wanted salmon patties. Since she has eaten these, several times, and enjoyed them, I assumed she would actually eat them.
Dinner was ready. We were sitting at the table, I mean in front of the TV (Titan's game), and Maddie claimed that her's was too hot to eat. No problem, I got a container of yogurt for her to eat, while her dinner cooled off.
"Um, Mommy, these are yucky."
"You haven't even tasted them, yet."
"I know, but I'm sure, they really are yucky."
"You told me that you love salmon patties and that you didn't want anything else. Eat your food. Now."
"I. Don't. Want. Them."
"You. Will. Not. Eat. Anything. Else. Until. You. Do"
"Okay."
And, with that, I did something I always swore I would never do. She went to bed without dinner. A carton of yogurt was all she ate last night. And she didn't even care. Or complain that she was hungry. Which, I thought was really strange.
But for some reason, I was really, really hungry. I ate and ate, all night long. I started thinking about it, because I never eat late at night. Was God punishing me, because I made Maddie go to bed without dinner? Had He decided to not make her hungry, and was trying to teach me a lesson, by making me crave all of her favorite foods?
It's true. I craved cheese and crackers, popcorn, fruity cheerios, yogurt, and pecan twirls.
And as I was eating a bowl of chocolate ice cream, I decided that, sometimes, God's lessons taste really good.
We have a very hard time getting Maddie to eat. Anything. Especially when we go out to dinner. She tells us that she wants one thing, when it arrives, she won't touch it. It drives me crazy. So when I read Amy's post, about what she did with her daughter, I knew it was worth a try. Fear. I'll just scare her into eating.
We went to our favorite local restaurant and Maddie said she wanted spaghetti. Guess what? It came and she didn't want it. Hhhmmm. Imagine that.
"Maddie, if you don't eat, your tummy will start hurting and we will have to take you to the doctor. You may have to get a shot." Ha! No 3 year would ever choose a shot over spaghetti.
"Well. . . I've had a cough. I think I need to go to the doctor." Did she just call my bluff? She's done this so many times, she knows that not eating does not warrant a visit to the doctor. Think, think, think. Got it. Get your fork ready, darling, I'm about to bring out the big guns.
"Oh, well- maybe we should just take you to the hospital. They will put a tube in your nose and feed you that way. It will probably hurt really bad. You should eat, so that doesn't happen" Just eat the stinkin' spaghetti.
"Ok, I'll go to the hospital." Seriously, what is wrong with my child?
"Mommy, did you see that man?!? He's so funny. He has a Santa Claus hat on."
"Yep, I see him. Do you know why he's wearing that hat? Because he is one of Santa's helpers. His job is to walk around the restaurant and tell Santa who is being good and who is bad. Do you want him to tell Santa that you aren't eating your food?" Take that!!!
I've never seen her eat that fast or that much. Apparently, her fear of Santa not bringing her presents is much greater than her fear of shots or feeding tubes.
And that's great, because, for today, she actually ate her lunch. I just really wish Santa was around all year long.
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