I Inherited a Lydia

You probably have one too. Lydia was the cousin who sat at the dinner table for hours on end with the same mouthful and no one could ever understand why. Maybe it’s punishment for all the times I laughed at Lydia and poked fun at her along with the rest of my cousins. I think back and remember how funny I thought it was. There she was again, sitting at the table with the same spoonful of rice and beans in her mouth. Ha-ha-ha! Now, I have one and his name is Jayden. There is truth to the old saying. What goes around, comes around.

I dread all meal periods. Just about the only thing he eats at a normal pace is a snack food item. And because he doesn’t’ eat his meals, I refuse to reward him with yogurt or applesauce. I’m so tired of it. I am at the end of my rope. If he does it at breakfast or lunch, I never force it. If he wants to eat, great! If not, that’s ok. He’s going to be having it later at the next meal period (depending on the food item, of course). You should see the look on his face when he tells me he’s hungry and I whip out the waffle he refused at breakfast. But that doesn’t work at dinner time. Imagine if I presented him with a bowl of chicken and rice for breakfast the next day. (he-he) And because dinner takes so long, we can never get out to do anything afterwards so we are all punished.

When it comes to eating habits, he goes from bad to worse. Am I going to go through the same thing with Maya? She’s starting to drop the food items she doesn’t want off to the side of her highchair. Is she a Jayden in the making?