There is very little in this world that is quite as satisfying as watching your toddler eat her vegetables. At least for me. And when it happens without any coercion or sleight of hand, without any effort at all, well, that my friends is what it feels like to win the jackpot.
Tonight we had lime ginger salmon with steamed wontons and green beans. It's a regular-ish meal for us, and generally E has one or two bites of salmon and devours the wontons while I try to sneak a chunk of bean in with each bite. It's not that she doesn't like the green beans, but what would you choose if they were both sitting there on the plate? Tonight was a completely different story. She has recently expanded her palate to enjoy salmon more (or, as she calls it, hamon), so that was a hit. And just when I was about as happy as I could be that she was taking two bites of green beans between wontons, dada got in on the action.
Her plate was clean, and she claimed to be all done. So J grabbed some green beans and showed her how to make a fish face and suck the green beans in like a vacuum. That was good for at least a dozen beans. And when that didn't do the trick, she just grabbed a handful of them and crammed them in. One or two fell out, but a whole lot more went down. At this point, they were eating with their fingers out of the tupperware container I had put the leftovers in, and then E decided to eschew propriety altogether by grabbing the big slab of salmon and eating it like a sandwich. I don't think I've ever been so proud.
I feel like I've gotten away with shoplifting. Like at any minute I'll hear a voice from the crib: "Wait a second! MAMA!!!! What did you do??!!!" But it's too late now. Weeeeee! My daughter has met her weekly quota for greens and it's only Monday. Supermom and Superdad, at your service.
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