Tuesday, July 03, 2007

The Stand-off

Yesterday my patience was tested almost to the limit. My daughter, who normally eats her food with little or no fuss, took over five hours to eat cauliflower. Now we are not talking about a bowl full. All she had to swallow were two small pieces that she probably could have got down without chewing. Instead of eating it as fast as she could and then washing it down with juice, which is what I would have done, she kept them in her mouth and refused to chew. When told to swallow, she refused. This is when the discipline kicked in. Unfortunately, even with numerous spankings and opportunities to finish her vegetables, she still refused. At one point, she gagged and spit all the cauliflower back up. Unrelenting, I gave her some more cauliflower. This time it was one large piece. She was not allowed to leave the table or talk, due to the food in her mouth. At one point, she had to use the restroom. I pointed out that if she really had to go she would swallow her food. Did she? No, she went on the floor. At this point I had to walk away to deal with the sin of my own anger. Eventually, she finally gave in. She ate her veggies, cleaned up the mess on the floor, and then bathed herself. Needless to say, she had a long talk with Daddy when he came home. Hopefully she has learned her lesson and we will not have to endure this again, although...she did asked this morning if she was going to have to eat cauliflower again. My answer, "Of course."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE IT! Like I said before, don't give up. I can testify that it does, in fact, work.