Sunday, March 13, 2005

I have a knack for making 9 year old girls cry.

A couple of days ago it was over a surgical procedure (known as fraenectomy) that some kids have to have during their orthodontics tenure. You know that little flap of skin at the front of your lip that attached to your gums? Some with gapped teeth need to have that flap “trimmed” in order to prevent the gap from returning. So one of Holly’s friends said that she would have to have it done and she was asking me about it. I said that she might have to have it done, but it’s not a big deal - I had it done and didn’t even need stitches. But apparently, Holly has a low pain tolerance and she’s terrified of this precedure that she might not even have to have. Because I didn’t reassure her that it was going to be unnecessary, the tears flowed. Oy.

Then today, I cooked lunch for us while they were at church this morning. Chicken breasts with Jared’s Diablo sauce (which is delicious! Recipe is in comment #11 - thanks, Rod), corn, lima beans, Rice-a-Roni, crusty rolls. I knew the chicken was a gamble with the kid since she’s a picky eater - it’s why I didn’t load up with too much Tabasco. What I didn’t know I was cooking into was that Holly was counting on Chicken Out for lunch today and when ECD informed her that I was cooking there was much disappointment (and whining). I was headed upstairs to check on the food when they walked in, Holly with a clearly unhappy face.

Uh oh.

I decided long ago that I was cooking for ECD and me - Holly will have to eat what I prepare or not eat and I try to include veggies and rice that I know she will eat. She does not go away from the table hungry. Mostly - there are times when I’ll make her something because she definitely doesn’t like, say, salmon. Anyway, I’ve tried several chicken recipes and only one has gotten a positive response from her. At this point, I’m not inclined to eat bland meals because a 9 year old “doesn’t like it.”

So we’re eating and Holly is eating everything around the chicken and I know that she’s building her dislike for it in her head before she even tastes it. But ECD and I will not let her get away without eating it, so the battle begins when she tries to cut off a miniscule morsel of an already bite sized piece of the chicken. Uh uh. Eat that whole thing. Before it’s actually in her mouth she’s complaining that she doesn’t like it.

I lose it a little, “Holly, you don’t even know you don’t like it!” And then the tears come.

Fortunately, her mother took over the discipline at that point and I cleaned up. Just a couple of minutes ago, Holly came to apologize to me - I’m not sure she knows what she’s even apologizing for, but that’s OK. And I know we’ll have the food battle again the next time I cook.