This is a blog post in response to the Daily Post weekly writing challenge “Leave your shoes at the door” – The challenge is to write a piece from another persons perspective. This week, I am writing from my 21 month old daughter’s perspective, concerning my “nutty” obsession with meal and snack schedules. (I really didn’t want to consider my husband’s perspective!)
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My mum is nutty about mealtimes
I am Ellie. I am 21 months old. I like the colour purple, staying up late and playing with my dolls. I have curls in my hair that everyone gushes about. My daddy combs my hair and makes them pretty but my mum doesn’t worry about that so much. My mum dresses me “sensibly”. I attempt to communicate with her that I don’t like that and I want to wear pretty dresses with shoes that don’t match. She doesn’t like that my communication method is not as smiley and wordy as hers. I prefer tears and using one word – “No”.
My mum is pretty normal except for at mealtimes. Mum always insists on sitting with me and she likes to eat at the same times each day. I have a special chair that I sit in at the table. This makes me feel important and happy. I like to say “cheers” with my drinks numerous times through the meal and expect everyone at the table to chink their glasses with my plastic cup. I even like to say “cheers” when I have my fork full and expect everyone to say “cheers” back and touch their fork to mine. It makes me laugh and I feel involved.
My mum likes to lay out the food and have me “choose” what I want to eat. I think it is funny that I have to “choose” because I still end up picking something from each bowl she presents to me. The good thing is that when I want more of one particular thing she is happy to give it to me. I’ve usually licked & tasted everything on my plate before I ask for more cheese. It’s my most preferred food.
Mum likes to talk about the colours of the food and we talk about the temperature of the food. Mum has rhymes for the colours of the food that make me giggle. We also like to count the different things on my plate. We make “wheels” out of some things by “rolling, rolling, rolling” and all sorts of other shapes. But my favorite thing is to “dip, dip, dip” my foods. I like it when mum asks for and then takes some unknown foods that I choose for my plate. She then demonstrates how to eat them, usually with a big cheesy smile on her face. So, I can’t help but copy her. It’s just that, sometimes, a new food is confusing for me and I’m not sure what to do with it. She doesn’t get angry if I spit it back out. Sometimes I am really unsure about how I feel with it in my mouth. She says “I like that you tried that in your mouth”. However, I know I will see that food again soon and it won’t be as surprising next time.
Mum always ends the meal with “clean-up time”. She asks me if I am ready and then we go to the bathroom and get cleaned up. I like being able to use the soap and dry my own hands. Sometimes, I even get to go straight into the bath. I like that my mum doesn’t scrub me down at the table & in between bites of food – that would be annoying! Instead, she laughs at how messy I can get.
Mum sits down each week and writes a meal plan. Sometimes we follow it all – sometimes we have to ditch the plan. Sometimes I get to help ….
All in all my mum may be a bit nutty about meals, but she’s MY nutty mealtime mum!
Play with Food 