Food, Food, and More Food

Aaron loves not only the act of eating, but he loves to talk about food........what he ate, what he will eat, what he wants to eat, how much he did eat, how much he would like to eat.........you get the idea.  Nearly every day when he returns from his day group, he'll eventually give me a run-down of his food consumption for that day.  I like to know so I can figure out if he ate at least one healthy item..........or to redirect him in making wiser choices..........perhaps to see if he wants to eat supper with Gary and me............or to be forewarned of what I might expect later concerning various stomach issues (if you know what I mean). 

He came home one day and said, "Mom!  We went to Target and I was in the super part!  That Combo Pizza Meal was $2.19 but then it became $7.24!"    Uh-huh.  I never did get an adequate answer about the price jump, but I knew that either he added more food or he spent his money on something else there.  Who can tell? 

Then there was the time that he informed me, "Mom!  I got a #10 menu item for lunch.  You know what came with that menu?!  A LOT of food!!"   Which of course made Aaron very happy.  He continued, "Mom, what are Tater Tots?  Are they potatoes?  And there were cheese sticks!  They have cheese inside!"   Really, Aaron?  What a surprise!

He doesn't get my humor and just continues with his rundown of his meal, oblivious to my sarcasm, which makes me laugh and then makes him think that Mom is enjoying this meal recitation............and around and around we go.  He has no idea how entertaining he is, really.

One day he called me from his day group.  When I asked him how he was doing, he answered, "Fine I'm full."  No pause.....no breath......just all together - "Fine I'm full."  This could probably be said by him nearly every day of his life.  The day that he said to me, "I'm full!  Can you imagine that is true?" - was one of those days that I had to almost literally bite my tongue from saying what I so wanted to say.  But again, sarcasm is wasted on Aaron so I decided to just keep my thoughts to myself.

I try to control his eating at home, although he certainly is sneaky about hiding food in his room......or in his pockets...........under his bed.............in his desk drawers.......under his blanket.  We've gotten proficient at hiding food from Aaron, too.......but I have to always hope that I'll remember where I put it.  Aaron went through a phase of wanting to drink Gatorade that he found out in our garage refrigerator.  I told him it was not for casual drinking, but was for us if we were sick or were working outside and getting dehydrated.  He just couldn't believe that, and so asked, "You mean I can't have them even though they're drinking things?!"

Aaron also loves, loves, loves to feed our Great Dane.  And Jackson loves, loves, loves to eat anything (nearly) that Aaron gives him.  Aaron will purposely drop food on the floor during dinner in the hopes that Jackson will come in after we eat and find it.  We quit buying any rawhide bones because every time we turned around, Jacks would have a bone hanging out of his mouth, courtesy of Aaron.  And after Aaron eats, he likes to go up to Jackson and blow in his face.  We always tell Aaron to stop doing that, and one day he asked, "Don't you want him to know our food?"  Oh good grief, Aaron!

He does actually think about his weight, believe it or not.  He often asks if we think he's losing weight, or at least half-way losing weight.  He was eating candy one day and asked, "Is that candy gaining me weight?" 

It wouldn't if YOU didn't put it in your mouth, Aaron!

He likes fruits and veggies, so I try to encourage him to snack on those as well as eat them at his meals.  One day I was heating him up some leftovers for lunch and I told him that we had some spinach from supper a few days earlier.  I asked him if he wanted me to heat it for him.  He's picky about his food touching, though, so he said, "Yes, but put it in a bowl - not beside my other stuff."  I did that, knowing that his food placement is as important to him as his food choices..........and also as important as the multiple number of forks and spoons and at least one knife that he always brings to the table for each meal.  Some issues are just not worth fighting.

As he sat there that day and ate his spinach, his always curious mind was thinking about how spinach grows.......so he asked me about that.  "Does it grow on the ground?  Isn't that strange that it's from the ground?"  I reminded him that all the plants that grow are from the ground, but he quickly corrected me.

"No, it's not!  Some things are pointed up, like corn!"

 

That boy keeps me on my toes!  Or should I say that he keeps me grounded?