I fear that Abigail will grow up to be afraid of Darth Vader....or any movie that James Earl Jones might be in or doing a voice over in.
Meal time has become somewhat less stressful recently as Abigail is starting to eat with a little less coaxing. Coaxing is still required as it is difficult to get her to start eating. What has helped is Melinda has discovered some great recipies and a slew of calorie free, carb free dressings that Abigail is really enjoying.....however.
There are times where a firm, LOUD, voice is required to convince Abigail that she should take a bite. Often this is simply the first bite just to get her started.
Typical Breakfast in the Rosenfeld household:
Its 5:45 to 6am on any given day. I have gotten up with Abigail made her breakfast and myself a pot of coffee.
"Open your mouth Abigail and take a bite" I say calmly. I am sitting across the table from her halfway thru my first cup of coffee and am almost done checking the nightly logs for some of my clients servers.
Abigail draws in her shoulders and sucks her chin down to her chest, she looks at me from the tops of her eyes. I ignore this as its all part of the dance we do every morning. I finish the cup of coffee and retrieve more from the coffee maker in the kitchen.
Upon returning to the table Abigail still has not moved. I lower the lid to my computer, Facebook can wait a few more minutes.
"Take a bite now ....please" I say with a bit firmer tone.
Abigail pulls her best blank expression out of her bag of tricks somehow knowing this one look will set me off. I bite back the sudden pulse of pain behind my right eye and keep my face from twitching, hoping that last blood pressure spike wasn't a stroke. I take a long drink of coffee wistfully thinking about how nice some Jack Daniels would be mixed with it.
"Abigail take a bite NOW!" My voice is lowering and the vowels are getting emphasized. I am done with my second cup of coffee and its now 6:15. Abigail and I have been staring at each other for at least 10 minutes.
Abigail sucks in a deep breath and holds it, she clasps her hands in front of her and lowers her shoulders, braces her back against the chair and looks down at her lap.
I repeat the same phrase again..."Abigail take a bite NOW!" only this time Darth Vaders deep rumbling voice is channeling thru me and all the powers of the force both dark and light compel her to raise her hand, take hold of the fork...pause....and then take a bite. Her shoulders loosen, her posture straightens, her eyes look up, and she says "Nummy!"
I scream inward. But force a smile and say in a light merry voice "Good Job Abigail....see it is yummy!" I even manage a little clap for her as she digs into the rest of the plate of food.
My hands are shaking as I pour the third cup of coffee wondering if I really need it.
3 comments:
Well, I can get nowhere near Darth Vader tones, so I'm afraid I've resorted to forcing the spoon in when the going gets really tough. Argh.
I've discovered that honey makes meals a lot more compact, which sometimes is what's needed. Not really the most nutritious carb (though better than white sugar!) but at least she eats.
Those walden farm dips are saving our sanity right now...its all about flavor. I too have to resort to the forcing of the spoon, fork, or thumb full of food into her mouth when I can. That happens when our daily wiggle room for lost calories is used up and she "has" to eat everything. My mantra when that happens is "The ends justify the means"
Sounds like you have a really nice scale that does 10ths of a gram. What brand and model are you using as we are serious need of a better one than we have now.
I guess a positive thing is that she'll stay in her seat while all this is going on! :)
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