I think as mothers, parents, we find ourselves in positions all the time where guilt sets in - in some form or fashion. When we multi-task all the roles we have, we tend to neglect our children in some way. When we get mad at our kids for no other reason but that our lives are momentarily feeling out of control - later we feel guilty for our tone. But tonight I did something that at first I felt a little guilty. Then...I reconsidered my feelings - and thought, yeah, that was one pretty slick move this ole Mommy had!
Tonight was Taco Thursday (we missed it on Tuesday). I'm really trying hard (er) to get new fruits and vegetables into the mouths of my babes. I need to add them to mine as well. I had to do something with the hamburger tonight - and tacos are always pretty successful. What was also glaring at me were the sweet potatoes on the counter starting to get that worn out look. So I made them.
I peeled them, cubed them and roasted them with a little olive oil and salt. I considered going sweet on them by adding some honey and cinnamon; but I thought they'd be sweet enough.
It's plate time. I made each girl a taco - and bonus, I added spinach to the tacos instead of lettuce. For whatever reason, my girls seem to love spinach - so that's a good thing. My two sweet potatoes made many cubed pieces. I put about 10 cubes on each girl's plate.
Sydney's habit is to eat things in order - all of one thing, then all of the next and so on. She starts with what she likes least.
She took her first bite of sweet potato and got that gag look about her. Her first question was, "how many do I have to eat?" I said, "all of them." "What do I get if I eat them all?" she said. I said, "a healthy body." She was not amused. Her look did not amuse me. Then she said, "it tastes like I have vomit in my mouth." Oh good, I thought, what lovely dinner conversation. She ate the next one and chased it with her chocolate milk.
I told her to break up the dinner and have a bite of taco, then some sweet potato. Meanwhile, Cheekers is over there chomping away on the sweet potatoes, saying, "mmmmm, yummy," offering to eat her sister's potatoes for her. Whenever one of them is in trouble, the other one decides this is the right time to display some major angelic behavior. They take turns at this.
After some more gagging noises, I'd honestly had enough myself. So I said she didn't have to eat them. No dessert tonight or tomorrow night. Yeah, I'm hard core.
In the back of my mind, though, I had a plan brewing. I know Sydney always wants more than one taco. Tonight was no exception. When she asked for her second one, I came up with a plan to distract her. She had her art supplies still on the island. I had her draw me something.I took her plate, the one with the remaining seven sweet potato cubes. I grabbed a tortilla, put some cheese on it and put it in the microwave to melt the cheese. Then facing away from her, I took her sweet potatoes and mashed them up on her plate. When the tortilla was warm and cheese melted, I added the mashed tators on top of the cheese. Then I added the taco meat, finally topping it off with a couple pieces of spinach. I rolled it up tightly and handed it back to her with a smile.
She cleaned her plate.
So, did I have another guilty moment today? A little bit. Do I cherish the fact that I got my girl to eat the rest of gaggingly disgusting sweet potatoes - completely unknowing....yeah, you bet I do!
So tonight, the verdict....this Mom, NOT guilty!