Now That's Good Parenting

Ruth had her first swim lesson today, and it went very well. So afterward, I offered to take her out for a special lunch at one of her favorite places--Costco--and knock out some shopping while I was there. (Now, I must preface what follows with a reminder of yesterday's blog and the intolerable pickiness we've been enduring). So, we get to Costco, and Ruth orders up her favorite thing--cheese pizza. The slices there are huge and I knew it was unreasonable to expect her to eat the whole thing, so I cut it in half and told her she just had to eat half of it. She took about two bites and told me she didn't want anymore. Based on the week's behavior at eating times, I pressed her to finish just the one half. Costco has earned it's top ranking on Ruth's list of stores because they give out free samples, so I told her that she couldn't have any samples unless she finished her lunch. So, she trudged through the pizza, all the while complaining about having to eat it. Finally, she finished and plunged into her first sample. About five minutes after that, she started coughing and making gagging sounds and saying she was "throwing up"--which is a special trick of hers to get our attention from time to time. I told her once that she needed to stop but she did it again, and before I could correct her a second time she did in fact do just that--and not just a little either. They pretty much had to close down that aisle for a while. Minutes later, she says, "I'm fine. I just ate too much pizza." Ouch! That's going to leave a mark...and a stench!