Coin Sense

Our daughter is starting school in the fall.... our daughter, who has been speaking in clear sentences since she was 15 months old and knows her way around the English language quite well, will be entering school this year....

I apologize in advance to her teacher, because it's going to be so much fun having her and her witty comments in the classroom.

My husband and I joke about how we will likely have a note sent home over one thing or another, likely in the first week. It's not that our daughter is a 'bad' child. It's not that she doesn't play well with others. It's not that she isn't social.

It's actually quite the opposite.

Today, at dinner, while the boys were smothering the table, chairs and floor with their dinner, my daughter and I were having a little back and forth about her eating the steak that was on her plate. While putting her plate together, I took a small piece of meat, cut it into 8 pieces. I filled the rest of the plate with macaroni & cheese and a mix of carrots and beans.

Well, I knew that the issue would come up, so I had my options ready. Lately, she hasn't been too keen on eating meat, so I had a few options to offer her if she flat out was not interested in eating her meat, which was the case tonight.

Within about 5 minutes of being at the table, she had eaten all of her macaroni, half of her veggies and no steak. She had eaten a whack of baked beans at lunch time, so I wasn't too concerned about her actually eating the steak... but, she does need to work on her listening and cooperating skills.

"Norah, you need to eat at least four pieces of steak."
"Mom, I really don't think steak is my favourite thing to eat."
"I know that. So that is why I am just having you eat only 4 pieces... You have 8 on your plate. I know you can fit 4 in there."
"Well.... I really don't like the steak. ...... Look, I ate a lot of my vegetables!"
"Ya, you did really well with your vegetables."
"Tell you what. If you eat all of your vegetables, then you don't have to finish your steak."
"All of them?"
"Yep."
"Hmmmmm. Well, I don't like the carrots, so I'm just gonna eat the peas."
"No, you're going to eat all of the carrots, too."
"Well, I don't like the carrots."
"Too bad. Eat your carrots."
"I KNOW!"
<SIGH> "What?"
"I'll just pretend that their chocolate coins! I love chocolate coins!"
"Norah, that is a great idea! Just eat them!"
- Silence for about thirty seconds.....-
She looks at me and puts the most pouty face on that she could muster.....
"Well, I'm not allowed to have chocolate, so I guess I don't have to eat my chocolate coins."

A couple of weeks ago, she was put on the 'NO CANDY' list by the dentist, so we've cut out candy. She's been dealing with this well.... until she can use this for her own preschool agenda....

Well played, Norah, well played....