Dinner Is Hell

Something tells me that many other parents of a 2-year-old can relate to the title of this write-up. Not wanting to sound overly dramatic, but no joke, until your child is a few years older, chances are you're probably not going to enjoy dinner.
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Something tells me that many other parents of a 2-year-old can relate to the title of this write-up. Not wanting to sound overly dramatic, but no joke, until your child is a few years older, chances are you're probably not going to enjoy dinner. In fact, you may hate it. Ok, you WILL hate it.

Case in point, our little guy, who can be the sweetest ever, somehow pulls out his horns as soon as the words "Dinner's ready" are heard. That's when my wife and I get, "I don't want that!" And by "that", we're talking about things he loves -- pasta, sweet potatoes and on and on.

That's when the re-enforcing words come out of our mouths, "Ooh, you love pasta" and "Come on, just taste it. Yummy." Blah, blah, blah. Xanax, anyone?

Typical scenario. My wife and I, along with our 6-year-old son, sit down to eat, and our little one is in the high chair. Get ready, here comes the whining, slowly getting louder and louder. Trust me, I'm not the dad who sits there and lets a child get their way. I've seen some parents act like short order cooks for their kids. Not happening.

So we try to carry on our conversation like nothing is wrong in the hopes he'll discover the yumminess in front of him. I'll start by asking my wife, "How was your day?" Or I'll ask my older son, "Who did you play with today at school?" Hmm... Can I hear the answers? Not really. Unless I were to have superhero powers that could drown out, "I want Rice Krispies, please", or "I want pancakes, please." At least he says please every time, but NO! Not going to work.

Queue the bowl of pasta hitting the floor, sending noodles to all ends of the Earth. Ok, yes, now I'm being overly dramatic. But isn't it lovely when the noodles are all over the dining room floor and some fall into the floor vents? Yay! When our 6-year-old was that age, I remember the struggle back then. Now, at least our older one will eat dinner. Although depending on whether or not he loves what's on mom's menu that night, it may be at a snail's pace, with us having to keep him focused on sitting there and eating. In his dreams, life would be all about mac and cheese or chicken nuggets. Keep dreaming, kid.

Gathering for that end-of-day meal is quite the challenge. The days of having an actual coherent conversation with your spouse, or loved one, are over. At least for a couple more years.

Dinner is hell. Now, what's for breakfast?

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