Mr. Independent

Mealtime at the old homestead just isn’t the same anymore.  My son recently developed an independent streak.  He insists on feeding himself almost every time we put him in his highchair.  I wouldn’t mind it so much if he didn’t make the kitchen resemble the cafeteria in Animal House after Bluto started the food fight. 

I was raised to be neat, at least at the dinner table, so this is hard for me to accept.  Am I asking too much to expect him to act his age and get with the program?  I don’t throw food.  My wife doesn’t throw food.  My daughter doesn’t throw food… usually.  Even the dog doesn’t throw food unless it’s still alive.  So where would he learn this kind of behavior? 

We’re trying to find the best solution possible without starving him, but it’s not easy.  He does pretty well sometimes if we set individual pieces in front of him, but that’s virtually impossible with soup.  You’d think that tying his hands down would work.  It doesn’t because the little nonconformist shakes his head to the point of almost blacking out if a spoon is put anywhere near his personal space.  It might be his way of saying, “you’re not the boss of me” and he’d be right, but that’s not the point.

 

My guess is that eventually he’ll catch up or hopefully for his sake surpass us in the coordination department.  I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for him to change but I’m looking forward to the day I don’t have to walk around with spaghetti stains on my shirt.  But then again, I don’t want to stop eating spaghetti.