Day 15: May 30, 2014

Well...my Hyrum is choosy. He is not picky with food because there are some days he wouldn't eat the food he loves! One day he'll eat only the broth out of the soup. The next day if I offer the same soup, he will eat only the meatballs. The next day, if I offer the same soup, he'll eat the whole thing. He just wants to be the boss of what food he wants to eat that day. Sometimes it does create problems. Like last night, he said "Nana." So I asked him if he wanted some banana and he said yes. So I peeled the banana and handed to him. He shook his head, and then walked away. This was starting to happen a lot and I was tired of him wasting our food. I don't care what he wants to eat, but if he says he wants to eat that food, then he better eat that food!

That night, when I told him he couldn't have any other food other than the banana, I dealt with him crying and asking for milk. But I refused. But I really snapped when I discovered he snuck into the kitchen and had some rolls. When I went to him and took the food away, he ran off and slammed onto the couch....and then looked at me with that little impish smirk.

The smirk.

It made me so angry. That is when I really snapped and couldn't deal with it anymore. He was really being sneaky and smart aleck. I went to him. I thought about spanking him, but decided not to. I grabbed him and made him sit in his chair and told him he wasn't going anywhere until he eats his piece of banana. After about an hour of crying, we put him to bed since it was his bedtime. After about 5 minutes of crying in his room, I went to his room, gave him some water, and cuddled with him. I told him why I want him to eat the banana and that we don't waste food, and that he is going to have the same food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner until he has a slice of banana. I know he's young and doesn't understand a lot of things, but I think he understood more than I realized. So that's why I do talk to him like that. After I said goodnight, he rolled over and went back to sleep. Then that night, I looked up on Dr. Dobson's advice on how to deal with it. He said I can't win with this by forcing him to eat. My kid is strong willed and he wasn't going to eat it. So the best way to deal with it is to keep offering the same food over and over again.

So the next morning, May 30, I told Hyrum he was going to have some banana for breakfast. Of course he refused. I wouldn't let him have any other food other than water or banana. After about two hours of refusing, I suddenly had an inspiration. I had promised him if he would eat one banana he can have milk. But this little guy was stubborn! So I helped myself to a banana slice. All of sudden, Hyrum wanted some banana slices. He ate a slice, and I kept my promise and I gave him some milk. Then he drank his milk, then ate the rest of the bananas slices.

All that fight for nothing, child???? Sigh.

Crying because he won't eat that one banana slice.

Little Lady A can now bend her legs and is becoming more flexible everyday.