Tonight's Dinner

If we are thankful for our food then why does our family end up throwing so much away? It really bothers me especially if I think about the millions of people who go without food day and day out. I can't imagine them dealing with the food issues we deal with. Today my kids worked really hard with John outside and I so wanted to thank them by picking up dinner at a fast food restaurant but I just could not justify going out and buying food when we have a refrigerator full of food that needs to be eaten. So we stayed put, and I burnt my finger really bad heating it up, but I'll spare you that story.

The kids were not really excited about dinner and of course that held especially true for William. He sat down to dinner already disappointed that I hadn't picked up burgers. It was no surprise when he was one of the last kids still sitting at the table. This time he had Andrew, Paul, and Jonny pulling the same thing--- "We don't like the soup. It makes us gag." John insisted that they had five minutes left to finish eating or they would have to go to bed. Afterall, it was one tiny bowl of soup that they had to eat. One boy pretended to throw up some of their soup and we insisted that it would probably taste even better now. They realized that their little charade would not work and before we knew it they were putting their empty bowls in the sink. That is everyone except William who just could not stomach dinner. Sadly, John sent him to bed just like he said he would, and William went because the alternative would have been eating something that he could just not bring himself to eat-- no matter what.

And then I remembered a friend who had just told me, "You shouldn't punish the disability."

And a few minutes later we let him back up.

See-- this is something that has been an issue with William since forever. He is obsessed with knowing when we are going to eat, where we are going to eat, what we are going to eat, and how much he needs to or can eat depending on what we are eating. He smells the food, strokes the food, gets excited about the food, or shows incredible dislike for food. Literally, he is wondering about his next meal before he is finished with the one he is eating. Though I try to please him with foods that he likes whenever I can, often I am too late because he no longer cares for that food. Literally the things he will eat has dwindled down to a short grocery list of items.

And it is hard.

And I wonder if he is getting enough to eat. And I wonder how I can balance not being a short order cook with making sure that he is not going without altogether. If he enjoys the food he tends to be pleasant at dinner singing my praises. If he doesn't care for it, he tends to cause a ruckus of some sort. The real balancing act comes with him not teaching his siblings that acting a certain way will get them out of having to eat dinner just because they are not crazy about it.

It drains on me I tell you.

And as I talk about these food issues, I am reminded of others. I wish I could say that food is all we struggle with.

But like my burnt finger, I'll save that story for another day.
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Last night Anna went to bed early with me and enjoyed sleeping there all night. So much that she has spent the last hour brushing my hair and massaging my head. It has been the most wonderful thing. If you were wondering if she asked if she could sleep with me again tonight-- you were right-- she did.
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Can you believe that Caleb finally let me give him a trim? I took off a full inch and a half. :) Now Annalyn is begging for a trim and Dennis needs one too. I know what I will be doing this week.