Iris's First Dinner Request
I'm not quite sure what this is a sign of, but last night Iris demanded her first specific meal to me: oatmeal for dinner. I tried a number of diversionary tactics which I have developed over these last months, but nothing could shake her...
The dinnertime ritual began as usual, asking her to play with some of her toys in the kitchen while I begin sounding off the different foods on the night's menu as I pluck them from the fridge or freezer. But last night after the first speak of peas exited my lips, I was abruptly corrected by a determined Iris, who was not playing with any toys: "Oatmeal". Squash? "Oatmeal!" Avocado? "Oatmeal!" Ba-Ba (Chicken)? "Oatmeal!". I was stumped. This never happened! She never once has expressed any kind of opinion over any meal I've made for her, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, so I was left defenseless.
This is where I resorted to the kind of tactics that are normally saved for trying to get her to stop poking Baggie, put away the play doh, or close the one non-child-proofed cabinet door in the kitchen that exposes her to not one but three stacked 13" x 9" pyrex baking pans.
First, I stalled. After being somewhat satisfied at the mere sight of the oatmeal packet being removed from the cabinet, I set it down and began preparing Baggie's nightly fix of insulin and seizure meds. After a few minutes of prep time, I went over to Baggie to give her the peanut butter-phenyl barbitol desert. As though the act of Baggie licking it off the butter knife made Iris remember, she blurted "Oatmeal!"
Next, distraction. I told her I was going to "get her", which I often do, then proceeded to chase her, giggling, around the house. We got to her room and I pointed out to her a few of her animal friends that might like to come into the kitchen. As she was grabbing them, I slipped into the kitchen and pulled out the baggie of frozen peas. She walked in, elephant and bunny in tote, right as I was reaching into the cabinet where the cups used to warm the peas up are kept- "Oatmeal!".
Finally, reasoning. "Iris, we only have oatmeal for breakfast, and this is dinner." "Oatmeal!" "Iris, I don't know what else to give you with the oatmeal- everything else will taste horrible!" "Oatmeal". "I can make you oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow?" "Oatmeal!" And that's when she walked over to the drawer that holds the pyrex measuring cup I use to warm the water in the microwave and began trying to open it with the little leverage she had over her head. She had it all figured out!
It was getting late for her, so I relented and made the oatmeal. Apple Cinnamon w/ reduced sugar. At least she ate every last spoonful of it- also a first. I truly couldn't think of a vegetable that would have been appetizing after all that, but thankfully I had some watermelon, which she also downed rather quickly.
After a bath, a cup of warm milk, two books, and a nice eye-to-eye chat through the planks of her crib as she laid on her pillow and I sat on the floor (another specific request she's started lately), I told her I loved her and 'night-night' and got up and walked out of the room without a peep of protest from her. At least some rituals haven't changed yet!
The dinnertime ritual began as usual, asking her to play with some of her toys in the kitchen while I begin sounding off the different foods on the night's menu as I pluck them from the fridge or freezer. But last night after the first speak of peas exited my lips, I was abruptly corrected by a determined Iris, who was not playing with any toys: "Oatmeal". Squash? "Oatmeal!" Avocado? "Oatmeal!" Ba-Ba (Chicken)? "Oatmeal!". I was stumped. This never happened! She never once has expressed any kind of opinion over any meal I've made for her, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, so I was left defenseless.
This is where I resorted to the kind of tactics that are normally saved for trying to get her to stop poking Baggie, put away the play doh, or close the one non-child-proofed cabinet door in the kitchen that exposes her to not one but three stacked 13" x 9" pyrex baking pans.
First, I stalled. After being somewhat satisfied at the mere sight of the oatmeal packet being removed from the cabinet, I set it down and began preparing Baggie's nightly fix of insulin and seizure meds. After a few minutes of prep time, I went over to Baggie to give her the peanut butter-phenyl barbitol desert. As though the act of Baggie licking it off the butter knife made Iris remember, she blurted "Oatmeal!"
Next, distraction. I told her I was going to "get her", which I often do, then proceeded to chase her, giggling, around the house. We got to her room and I pointed out to her a few of her animal friends that might like to come into the kitchen. As she was grabbing them, I slipped into the kitchen and pulled out the baggie of frozen peas. She walked in, elephant and bunny in tote, right as I was reaching into the cabinet where the cups used to warm the peas up are kept- "Oatmeal!".
Finally, reasoning. "Iris, we only have oatmeal for breakfast, and this is dinner." "Oatmeal!" "Iris, I don't know what else to give you with the oatmeal- everything else will taste horrible!" "Oatmeal". "I can make you oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow?" "Oatmeal!" And that's when she walked over to the drawer that holds the pyrex measuring cup I use to warm the water in the microwave and began trying to open it with the little leverage she had over her head. She had it all figured out!
It was getting late for her, so I relented and made the oatmeal. Apple Cinnamon w/ reduced sugar. At least she ate every last spoonful of it- also a first. I truly couldn't think of a vegetable that would have been appetizing after all that, but thankfully I had some watermelon, which she also downed rather quickly.
After a bath, a cup of warm milk, two books, and a nice eye-to-eye chat through the planks of her crib as she laid on her pillow and I sat on the floor (another specific request she's started lately), I told her I loved her and 'night-night' and got up and walked out of the room without a peep of protest from her. At least some rituals haven't changed yet!
posted by naM modnaR at 12:37 PM
1 Comments:
I like your storytelling, Bryan. It sounds like one of Aesop's fables. Give the woman what she wants, and everything is fine!
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