Green Bean Race

[la_rainette]

There is nothing more disturbing when you are trying to eat dinner quietly than a racoon sitting in a tree watching your every move. And a fat racoon, too. He doesn't look as if he's starving. I don't even think he's looking at the food.

Now, I do get my girls to eat a healthy dinner once in a blue moon while, but that's only if you look at their combined plates, perfectly empty at the end of the meal. The point is, Tadpole eats all her meat, and Froglet eats all her pasta. And then they SWITCH PLATES *headthunk*

Froglet: you wanna trade? Do you want my meat?
Tadpole: yeah, thanks. Do you want my pasta?
Froglet: HEY! I know! I'll take your plate, and you take mine!

There you go.

I have found an infallible way to get Froglet to eat her green beans: we race.

One, two, three, go, first one to finish the bean wins. And then it's all about who lets who win. I let her win most of the time, but I can't eat too slowly, because sometimes she tries to le me win, so I have to realize that and finish my bean, else we both end up chewing like madwomen on half an inch of bean for half an hour.

Tadpole tried to join the competition, but she really HATES beans. She actually managed to get the entire bean into her mouth the first time, chewed three times, and then spat the whole thing out and spent the following fifteen minutes trying to scrape bean remains off her tongue.

And all the while, the neighbourhood racoons are watching us through those many windows, placing bets and complaining that the race is rigged.

Comments

[notions.livejournal.com]

ehehehehe races!

the new favourite trick with Ethan and Kate started with my uncle in San Diego, who told Kate: "Don't eat the melon! Don't eat the melon!"
Kate: I gonna eat the melon!
Uncle Bill: No, don't eat the melon!
Kate: *eats* I ate the melon!!!
Uncle Bill: Oh no, not the melon!

Repeat, until Kate has eaten more melon than I would have deemed possible. She is excused and goes to play outside, and sticks her head in the door a few minutes later - "My tummy hurts." *facepalm*

The "don't eat the..." game has become quite popular though, with Kate and then consequently Ethan, who doesnt want to miss out on attention. XD

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

*laughs* I don't know why, but it sounds as if your uncle has been watching Ice Age too often: "The melon! The melon! The melon! Tae Kwan Dodos... attack!"

*ahem*

Or maybe I have *sheepish grin*

[garney.livejournal.com]

My kids switch plates for lots of things x.x

He'll eat the meat, she'll eat the veggies and potatoes, ARGH

[drazzi.livejournal.com]

I would win your green bean race, because I adore green beans.

I'm amazed at this swopping plates phenomina though. I can't recall that really happening in my family. Then again, I'm the baby and the three other girls and one other boy in the house were ranging from 10-14 years older than me... I think teenagers are less likely to give up their plates. I tended to eat what I liked, and like what I ate =3

OUR dinnertime problem was mostly stopping the fights from conversations, and from little toddlers trying to steal other people's veggies/meat/fish/etc. (And I will still insist on trying food from other people's plates, as well as my own.)

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

*laughs* yeah, we do that too: we try food from each other's plate, all the time. To the point where Husband and I rarely order the same food in restaurants, cos we want to taste everything ;)

[metallumai.livejournal.com]

When my two were little, their artistic natures could be played upon: I remember doing all sorts of silly things to create art out of food, such as cutting carrots crosswise into 'carrot pennies,' and we made hotdogs into octopuses by slitting them into several strips lengthwise except for the top inch or so. When cooked, the 'legs' curled up quite satisfactorily.

They continue this tradition even today, as twenty-somethings: last year on Dave's birthday, Ben made him a cake and bought a package of those pre-formed "Happy Birthday" frosting letters. Except that he ate a couple, and wrote "Hippy Bathday" on the cake....

[la-rainette.livejournal.com]

*laughs* That's so funny...

Well, I tried the artistic approach once, only the result was so, erm, "pretty" that they didn't want to ruin it by eating it. (If given a choice, they might have chosen to frame it and put it on the wall). *headthunk*