Yep, and I fed it to her. I'm proud to say that last night the Captain called my bluff and lost.
It started just like any other night. He complained woefully that he didn't want dinner, he just wanted a snack. This seems to be a recurring theme in my household. Organized mealtime=bad, haphazard snacking=good. So I finally convinced him that mac and cheese would be a good idea, which he happily helped me mix and cook. But when the time came for him to eat it, he screamed, "I want fish sticks" and proceeded to push away the bowl of mac and cheese, whining and crying as he made his proclamation. I tried patience. I tried encouragement. And finally, I tried fear. I used our usual threat, that Dog would be glad to finish his meal, a technique that usually makes him snap to. But once again he shoved the bowl away. Over and over again. And then he hit the bowl and something snapped in this mediocre mama's head.
I grabbed the bowl away from him and placed it on the floor before Dog, who gulped down half in 6 seconds flat and the Captain shrieked. I'd decided the Captain had enough and picked up the bowl to give him what was left. And wouldn't you know it? The little bugger hit the bowl again. The dog was then treated to the 2nd half of the Captain's dinner. He screamed and cried. And after about 6 tissues, some deep breathing and a couple of hugs, I finally got an "I'm sorry, Mommy," and with that we made a fresh bowl of mac & cheese, which he ate entirely, no complaints.
Captain Kid - 0, Mediocre Mama - 1, Dog - 1
5 comments:
Wow. You make parenting sound fun. Can I have an envelope, please?
So long as I don't end up feeding it to the dog, yes, you may have an envelope.
--MM
Hurray! Sounds like an episode of tough love I would have enjoyed watching.
Nice! Gotta get a dog in time for Andrew to be eatting (or not eatting in your case) solid foods!
Actually, since you fixed him a brand new plate of food, I'd say the score should look more like: Captain Kid - 0.5, Mediocre Mama - 0.5, Dog - 1.0. The dog was really the biggest winner. Call me a hard-ass or an insensitive jerk, but I think it would have been even more effective if all the kid got was what the dog didn't eat or, better yet, the kid got to go to bed without anything more to eat and the dog got all the mac & cheese. Just my two cents after nearly five years of training as an evil step-parent.
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