Meal Time Fun

Dinner seems like it would be a pretty benign experience. You make a meal, you serve a meal, you eat a meal. Ahhh...but add a few sweet little ones into the mix and mealtime becomes more of an adventure, full of unexpected surprises.

When A was C's age, she was still eating baby food, and even when she started solid food, it was mostly discovering what items she would actually put into her mouth and eat. I think by the time she was 18 months, we had actually convinced her to eat 8 different foods. C, on the other hand, has been eating solid food since he was 9 months old and would have started earlier, if we had allowed him to. He loves to eat. Of course, now eating has become a game where C drops his food in the floor, looks over his high chair, looks up to you, then back down to the floor, points and says, "Me?" "Yes, buddy, you dropped it." "Me?" Repeat process.

C eats a little earlier than the rest of the family, since he can't seem to wait until dinner is served. Normally, we'll place him in the dining room floor with some toys, while we eat dinner. Recently, though, C has learned a few new tricks from the family dog. Begging. He crawls up to me first, pulls himself to a standing position, points to my plate, and begs, "Me?" Being a good mom, I hand him vegetables. He promptly lowers himself to a crawling position and makes his way over to his father. "Me?" Not satisfied with dad's selection, he finally crawls to A's chair, pulls himself up and repeats his plea, "Me? ME!" Usually, his sister giggles, but I'm sure she's more than eager to unload a few pieces of broccoli or carrot.

A is a different story. Her favorite response to an offering of veggies or a "questionable" new food is, "Not right now, Mommy. I'll try it when I'm older." To which I usually respond, "One bite rule or no dessert." "No zert, but I don't like broccoli." You get the picture. I'm just waiting for A to let me know the appropriate age for eating creamed spinach and broccoli with cheese. I'm not holding my breath that it will be anytime before her 16th birthday.

The real meal challenge is that our dining room is adjacent to the kids' playroom. My husband and I spend most of our time corraling children back to their seats. But, I'm counting that as enough extra calories burned for "zert," preferably ice cream.