food woes

Our internet has been too slow to post pictures the last couple weeks, so these pictures are from this last month sometime.
My poor kids... their parents are so hard on them. We make them eat whatever we're eating for a meal, and to make things even worse, we make them eat the whole thing. And to top it all off, they're not allowed to make comments about what they're eating unless it's to say something good. I know we're strange and harsh and weird, it's just that the food battle is a battle I'm not able to fight the next "who knows how many" number of years. I'm too weak. I'm too impatient. I'll lose my temper too many times. I imagine how awesome it would be for the battles to be over by the time they're two or three. I imagine how awesome it would be to have them sit down wherever we happen to be and eat what's given them without comments on how much they don't like the food or how much they have to eat or can they get down from the table yet (or in Laos, up from the floor)?

I know it's a hard expectation, but we started early with Eva (who also happens to have been born a great eater), and now she eats everything we give her, and we hear no comments unless it's a "delicious" in Lao! But Elijah? This little guy is another story. He has never been a good eater, and we didn't start quite as early with him, so it's a bit more of a battle. He knows he has to eat the whole plate, but it's that L A S T bite that gets him. I know, how harsh can I be? I even make him swallow that last bite.

So here he is sitting at the table... sitting and sitting... mom won't let him get down. How hard can it be to swallow ONE little bite, little guy? He was the cutest thing. No tears, no yelling... just lots of smiles and waves as I walked by. I don't want to say how long I let him sit here, but I will. I will confess. It was somewhere around TWO LONG HOURS, with my checking on him every 10 minutes or so, holding his hand and talking to him. He was so cute. Still lots of smiles. But no obedience and no swallowing. And then I heard a crash. The little guy had fallen asleep!! What was I thinking?? I kept him sitting there over his naptime?? Oh the guilt!! I scooped him up, and after he figured out what had happened, he swallowed that last bite right down. yee haw! And gave me lots of hugs and went right to sleep in his bed.

And when he woke up from his nap, was he ever one obedient, happy little guy!! Success!!! Please, don't judge. I know I'm strict. I know it seems heartless. And yes, I would have done things differently had I thought through making him sit in his chair over nap time. But now he knows that he has no choice but to eat the food, and now we have two good little eaters! Now that I've confessed my deeds, I feel much better. Thanks to all the listening ears. :)