Friday, January 29, 2010

Dessert

Getting Wyatt to eat his dinner has been somewhat of a struggle. Some nights he eats but most nights he does not. There is no rhyme or reason to when he chooses to eat. Max did the same thing when he was about the same age so I know it probably is just a phase. Wyatt being the second child, I have learned not to put up a fight and just let him not eat. He knows that if he does not eat he does not get anything else for the rest of the night and he is usually okay with that.

The other night I had a hankering for a root beer float. I promised to go out and get the ingredients to make root beer floats for anyone who ate all their dinner. Lauren had made some turkey breast with noodles and a side of snow peas, all three of which I knew Wyatt would eat. He ate up his noodles, sampled the turkey and struggled with the snow peas. I told him he had to eat everything to get a float. I went about cleaning up and after a few minutes Wyatt's plate was clean.

"Good job Wyatt Blue." I said searching the floor and the surrounding area for any evidence that he tried to hide his food. The floor, table and chair were spotless.

"Did you eat all of your snow peas?" Lauren asked.

"Yes." Wyatt answered. "Can I have a root beer float?"

I told Lauren I was surprised that Wyatt ate everything and that I was shocked at the power of the root beer float. We discussed the possibility of Wyatt feeding the snow peas to Luna the dog, but we agreed that Luna would not touch snow peas. Also there would be evidence on the floor of snow pea scraps if he did.

Later that evening we all enjoyed root beer floats as special treat.

Later that night Wyatt woke up around midnight claiming his belly hurt. I started to walk him to the bathroom when he puked all over the hallway and eventually the bathroom floor. After we got him cleaned up, tucked into our bed and he was back to sleep, Lauren and I started to clean up the mess. I cleaned up bits of noodles and specks of turkey that were sprayed down the hall in a creamy white goo that reeked of stomach acid and root beer.

We put away the cleaning supplies and got back to bed.

"I hope he is all right." Lauren said.

"He does not feel feverish."

"There is a stomach bug going around his school." Lauren added.

"Well once he feels better he needs to go into a time out."

"What?"

"I cleaned up noodles and turkey but I did not see any evidence of snow peas, did you?"

Lauren laughed."No."

"He lied about eating the snow peas." I said. "Now I just want to figure out where they went."

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Snow peas? Do not eat yellow snow.

BOSSY said...

Food forensics! Love it!

Shannon said...

As a child I was pretty crafty with ways to hide food I didn't want to eat. I'm interested to know what he did with those peas, too. Let us know when, and if, you figure it out.

James said...

Interesting.

One of ours stuffed all his peas in his diaper one night. We had no idea. Until I went to change his diaper and they spilled all over the changing table.

SciFi Dad said...

We need an epilogue to this once you find the peas.

Would his older brother have eaten them for him in solidarity?

Anonymous said...

Years ago, my younger brother had to eat all his dinner before having a treat of black liquorish ice cream. After finishing his dinner and enjoying his ice cream, he was caught spitting a black wad of roast beef into the toilet. We could never understand how anyone could enjoy ice cream with a bunch of meat stuffed in their cheeks!

eclectic said...

Awwww, give the li'l guy a break, wouldja? He lost his float anyway, so the universe has already exacted revenge for the snow peas. ;)

Anonymous said...

Is there a heating vent near his spot at the table? That was always the hiding place for unwanted food at our dinner sittings.Poor little one. Hope he is feeling better.Let Lauren know she has to cook the turkey breast first, before serving.

Charlotte in Pa said...

The kids at my nanny job have a new trick. At the end of the meal, they'll say, "Well, my DINNER tummy is full, but my DESSERT tummy still has room." Too funny.

Cole said...

Very well told story, Bill.

Melodie said...

My mom used to put yucky things she didn't want to eat in her pockets. Then ask to be excused to go to the restroom and flush the evidence down the toilet!

Unknown said...

Check the potted plants. Poor Wyatt!

Melinda said...

My mother made chipped beef on toast which was our least favourite meal she served to us. Actually...we hated it!
Slyly, she had also made chocolate pudding for dessert. I was only 7. None of us were picky eaters but all three of us kid were struggling to eat it. The golden opportunity came when the phone rang and Mom went out of the room to answer it.
I talked my older sister and 3 year old sister to hide the CB on T in our socks. I knew she would checked the rubbish bin. She came back and saw our clean plates. She searched the sink, the rubbish bin and the garden for the CB on T.
We swore (even my tattle tale 3 year old sister) we had cleaned our plates. We demanded dessert. Mom was very suspicious but gave us the pudding.
She found our socks 3 days later hidden in the wash basket. I got in big trouble because it was my idea. (not fair, yeah?)
My mother loved to tell the story of finding 6 socks full of CB on T.
When I was an adult I asked her to write out some of her recipes for me. I was amused to find a card for the yucky CB on T. At the end of the card, it said "Make Chocolate pudding then check the children still have their socks on before serving!" This recipe card is most treasured by me, especially now she has passed away.

Rachel said...

Wow ... where DID they go! I bet they were in his jeans pocket! Check the dirty clothes!

Kristy said...

instant karma for Wyatt! teehee...

www.shishnit.org

Esther said...

I agree, we need to hear where those snow peas went. Poor Wyatt!

MrsDoF said...

A few years ago, I read a story in a magazine where the girl was putting unwanted food into a hollow table leg. The mom could not figure out why the dining room smelled awful.

Effie said...

I love you Bill--or at least this post!

Sounds like my 3 year old...so picky and tricky!

Anonymous said...

I used to hide them in my nose and underpants.

Hilarious... I freakin' hate throw though... especially when its on me and it's not mine. Come to think of it... I hate mine too.

Unknown said...

This story reminded me of once when I was little, my Mom kind of forced the eating of some kilbasa...I hated the stuff....still do! Well, I got that icky feeling in my stomach and just as the insurance guy came thru the door, I was hurling my guts out in the hall! I will never forget that! I never made my kids eat anything that I was afraid I would have to clean up later that night! I bet the root beer float made him sick! LOL Great post! I bet I know who got the peas......

James (SeattleDad) said...

Too funny. Did you ever find them?

Bogart said...

You can't punish him for that...He outsmarted you. That is the kind of thing that you high-five the kid for.