Most of us should know of that movie A Christmas Story. Alot of us can't wait for the 24 hour marathon of it, and hearing over and over again how Ralphie will shoot his eye out. I loved watching this movie growing up and I still love it today. The perspective has changed slightly though. Like that scene at the dinner table when Randy won't eat his food....
(This version is unnecessarily long just fyi...)
I never understood how any parent in their right mind would let their kid eat their mashed potatoes like that. ENCOURAGE them to for that matter. I remember thinking how my kid would never do that and would act like a civilized adult at the table and eat their food the right way. Then I had Kenny and my perspective changed. I have begged, bribed and made those stupid airplane noises all in the attempt to get Kenny to eat. Every night is a challenge. I'm not sure why though. Because let's be honest....they're not going to starve. We act like they will though, and convince ourselves that we will be a better parent if we just get one more bite shoved in their mouth. We feel victorious when the vegetables are behind closed lips as if the fate of the world hung on whether or not those stupid green beans made it in. I try really hard not to make a big deal about it. But when I gave Kenny some mashed potatoes today and he started pouting and hitting it with his spoon all I could think of was Randy. He said he was " making a race track" and kept dragging the spoon across the mashed pototoes and then picking up a miniscule amount to eat. Drove. Me. Nuts. And then it hit me....Randy's mother encouraged him to eat his mashed potatoes like a little piggy out of pure desperation. She just wanted to see him eat! I've never been that desperate, but I can relate. I still did not encourage Kenny to snort and smush his face in his plate today, and pray to God I never reach that point. But I did remind him that we were supposed to get a Christmas tree this afternoon. Some may call that bribery. I like to think of it as motivation. We all have our methods...to each his own right? :)
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