Good Parenting

There is no other way to describe baby’s meal time other than MESSY. You get out the utensils and the food, warm it up, and sit down. The baby is in her little chair and she is not happy. Crying and crying. You, being a good and observant parent, know that the she is angry and upset simply because she is hungry. She is hungry not for the whipped mangoes that you have so carefully warmed up (not too hot!), but for the bottle.

She hates being off the bottle. No strained peas. No whipped mangoes. Not a thing. She cries and cries and in her cries she seems to say, “I want bottle!” Having been weaned about a week ago, the child will do anything not to get that stuff in her mouth. While turning her head and kicking her feet, usually at the same time, she makes for a messy good time. Except it is not you who is having a good time, attempting to get a bottle of peas down the throat of a ten month old baby, it is her. Her mission is to make sure none of those peas get into her stomach. So far she is succeeding.

Knowing that parenting comes from the heart (even though you have read a book or two) you know that the baby needs to eat, and that your daughter in not getting any happier. In an attempt to make it more fun, you put on the new bibs you bought online and used playful dishes. You make cooing noises with your mouth. This captivates the child to an extent that she is not thinking about moving her head or kicking and you get that spoon past the hands and into the mouth. Success! Again and again this works and she is calming down. The whole jar is gone! You get out your burp cloths with turtles on it and wipe all the remainder from the face, but at this point there is no further resistance. Having washed the baby, you take her out of the high chair; you put her in the playpen, where she goes right to sleep.

Why was that so hard? At this point you are thinking that you have accomplished a lot. You think, “I am a SUPER PARENT!” Then the euphoria wears off and then it is meal time again. This time the tactics must be changed again, but not too much. Another successful mealtime.