Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Faux Fries, Real Time Messes

Like any red-blooded American child, Isaac loves the wonderful greasy goodness of French Fries. He asks for them ALL. THE. TIME. Every meal. Every snack. Random times throughout the day. LOVES THE FRIES.

Anyhoo, we all realize (hopefully) that fries are not the healthiest snack for a budding 2 year old or anyone for that matter. We indulge him every now and then, his father more so than I do. While on a shopping trip to Costco, I found a big bag of Veggie Straws on sale. Isaac has tried these before and liked them so I got him some for snacks and such. And it was Costco, so I got like, a bajillion pounds for $2. Or something.

Upon arrival home, I gave him some with his lunch. He was delighted, and he immediately exclaimed:

"FRIIIIIIIES!!!!!"

My son thinks these veggie straws are fries, and I am going with it. :) However, these is another obsession that must be discussed as well.

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Isaac is too  big for his highchair. I am not really sure what the cutoff age for a high chair is, but I am guessing we are passed it or coming close to it. His feet hang below the foot ledge and I am pretty sure he could tip it over if he tried hard enough. Sigh.

I am reluctant to replace baby things with big boy things, even though I know that it needs to be done. It's because I have a huge pile of baby items: clothes, bottles, furniture, blankies, swings... in my basement. I refuse to get rid of ANY of it. Not only because it would be a HUGE waste of money when we have another child and have to rebuy all of it, but because it means my baby isn't my baby anymore. He's growing up, and thriving, just like he should be. Don't get me wrong, I am so happy and proud of him. And he will always be my baby. But it makes my uterus ache. I don't know when we will be having another baby, so the more stuff I put down there just makes me feel further and further away from a baby.

ANYHOO, his highchair is the next thing that will be making the pile larger. Which forces me to figure out his eating situation. Our table has this wierd border thing along the bottom of the eating surface that prevents the use of any type of booster without cutting off circulation in Isaac's legs. He eats at a small table at daycare so I figured I would just find one for him. This is what we ended up with:




The most important thing to note in this picture is that all of Isaac's food is all over the table. That is how he prefers to eat. I give him bowls, plates, etc. That stuff next to the spoon? OATMEAL. I guess it tastes better that way. What you cannot see is the bowl on the floor and miscellaneous clumps of oatmeal that were deemed unsuitable.

Also to note: I did not give him that much corn chex to start with. I gave him a small handful. HOWEVER, in addition to only wanting to eat things straight off the table, he can only eat select bits of food that he has taken from the entire available amount. Meaning: he needs to have the entire box/bag on the table with him.

I went to the bathroom and came back to the above scenario. Getting him to stay at the table was an issue at first, now, not so much. I pick my battles with my son. And having him throw a full blown screaming fit because he wants to eat directly from the box is one I usually let him win. I mean, it just isn't worth it.

However, this may need to be reconsidered. Especially when a huge bag of "fries" is involved:


Yes, that is the entire Costco size bag all over his table. My husband sent me this photo on Monday (Note his phone takes way better photos than mine does).

Sigh.

This happened the next day:



Those are Teddy Grahams.

The brighter side to this situation is that it provides an excellant platform to teach Isaac how to clean up his messes.

Take away points:
Isaac loves the faux fries, which I in turn love.
Isaac loves to eat at his table, which I in turn love.
Isaac likes to dump out ALL his food, mmmm I am indifferent.
Isaac likes to have possession of the entire receptacle from which his food is taken.....combined with the above....

Mommy needs a drink. :)

3 comments:

Stacie said...

I say, as long as he's eating, who cares where/how, right?! I feel fortunate that my child is not picky, so if she chooses to eat at her little table, I don't argue (unless it's too messy [pasta]). They like feeling "big".

That's pretty funny that Isaac prefers his food to be all over his table rather than in dishes. He's so stinkin' cute!

andrea said...

this cracks me up!
G is getting too big for the high chair too, too tall, i should say!

Open Roads Mama said...

1. I love Costco's veggie straws toooo!!!!
2. We still keep BB in a high chair for the most part, he eats the cleanest & most that way... ;)
3. You are so funny!