Are you enjoying these PROUDEST MOMMY MOMENTS??
I am thinking of making them a weekly feature, what do you think?
So it’s Wednesday and I have a very special Guest today: Natalie from Life on the Mama Track
YEA!!!!!!!
Yes I’m squealing again, but she’s so worth it and she’ll understand.
She gets me, she knows how honored I am that she agreed to be here.
You know she’s a Harvard Law graduate right?
She is also a Mommy, a really good one.
Her posts about motherhood are thoughtful and touching :
Hiding From Time , Gonna Get You and Rocking being my favorites.
She is always one of my first TRDC posts I read, because I can’t wait to read her words.
Her writing is just exquisite, always reminding me of how lucky I am to be a mom.
She’s truly an inspiration.
I know you’re going to enjoy this MOMENT as much as I did.
Tissues ready?
My friend, Natalie:
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“Orange,” he demanded.
“Okay,” I sighed. And I started peeling a Clementine.
I was frustrated. I knew how this would end.
He would take a piece and chew it. I would be optimistic that he would actually swallow it. And instead, he would spit it out, into my hand.
But I kept trying—that’s all you can do when you have a toddler who is a “discriminating” eater. And I kept hoping that, one day, he would eat it.
I’ve learned the hard way that you can’t make a child eat.
So I handed him a piece of the orange and sat down to wait for the desiccated pulp.
Sometimes motherhood is a little bit gross.
After a couple minutes, he looked at me. “More orange,” he said.
I paused. Where was the pulp?
I didn’t see it, but I knew he had probably dropped it. Maybe one of the dogs would get it.
So I handed him another piece. And I carefully watched him chew this one.
He ate it quickly. I checked his mouth—it was empty.
He actually swallowed it.
I couldn’t believe it.
He asked for more, and I handed him another piece.
And on and on we went.
Until he had eaten—actually swallowed—three entire Clementines.
I’m not sure I could eat three Clementines.
But he did. My toddler, who had never so much as swallowed a single piece of pulp before, sat at the table and systematically ate three oranges.
Pride bubbled up in my heart and spilled over.
I called his dad at work, and I emailed some of my closest mom friends, the ones who always offer him food at the park and have been there through our journey.
A child eating three oranges seems inconsequential to most parents.
But to a mom who has struggled for a year with a little boy who doesn’t enjoy eating, who hates sitting still for meals, who views food with the suspicion of someone who thinks he’s being poisoned, it meant the world.
That’s the thing about being a parent—the little things take on enormous proportions. When they go poorly, you stay up at night, worrying and researching on the internet. You read books and articles, anything you can find that might help you support your child. You consult every other parent you know, hoping for a panacea.
And when something goes well, nothing can touch you. Nothing. It doesn’t matter if the rest of your life falls apart –when your child has a breakthrough, you are on top of the world.
If the toddler can eat an orange, he can eat anything.
And he will. One day.
One day, this little boy will be a big boy, and he will eat me out of house and home.
I loathe the fact he’s growing as fast as he is, that my baby has become a boy, that already he doesn’t need me like he used to. Time is speeding past, days blurring together into months and years. I hate how fast it’s going.
But I look forward to those grocery bills.
And until then, I will keep offering him a variety of foods.
Because you never know when that day will come.
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WOW, right?
So if you want to read more of Natalie you can find her here:
Life on the Mama Track
Follow her on Twitter
and you can find and “LIKE” her on Facebook
Natalie, I can’t tell you how much it means to me to have you here.
Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Great post – I love Natalie, she's awesome. I too had a picky eater, I was convinced he would starve. But of course, he defied expectations and actually eats vegetables now!
Thank you! It's so frustrating to fix meal after meal and have them rejected. I'm happy you had progress!
Just catching up on all the Proud Mom moments–and yes, I think this would be great to have as a weekly feature! Thank you for giving me a chance to see other blogs that I might not have normallly seen!
I think I saw somewhere that with an average toddler, you may have to present a new food 10+ times before they willingly eat it but that with a picky eater it can easily be upwards of 20 to 40 times. You did great with this Natalie and deserve to be proud of your little guy.
Thanks for stopping by!
I've heard of your struggles with the boy and getting him to eat so I know what a big accomplishment this is. Way to go Mama! Here's to many more new foods.
Thanks, Jessica. It's frustrating because I'm not a picky eater at all. And I just want him to eat healthy foods! Hopefully, he'll keep surprising me.
This is pretty wonderful. My son will pretty much only drink milk. Its a huge accomplishment to add another food to the list
I like this and think it should be a regular weekly feature. I remember that thrill of parenting victory – it's such a sweet feeling.
It's pretty awesome, isn't it? I think I was happy for days.