editors' tips: if you don't eat it, i will.
My son Dash (3 1/2 years old) has become something of a picky eater of late, but he's also possessive about what's "his." So when he won't eat something I know he really likes, I just threaten to eat it myself. He takes it back and eats it immediately. I have a feeling I have mere weeks or days before he catches on and calls my bluff, but for the time being it's working nicely...
Here's what happens: He'll be refusing to eat something that's a favorite of his-say, grilled cheese-and I'll recognize this as simply an attempt to exert some authority over his situation, rather than a recently developed dislike. I'll say, "Dash, that grilled cheese [or whatever] looks really good-if you don't eat it really soon, I may have to eat it myself...." He tends to get a wary look at this point, and usually I have to follow up by actually grabbing for it-at which point he grabs it himself and takes a bite, looking triumphant and victorious over Daddy.
I usually feel bad, momentarily, about manipulating him in this way, but then I remember that he's been manipulating me since birth and will continue to do so...oh, forever. So I'm really just getting a bit of my own back.
I have not yet tried the classic "You gonna eat that?" line, but perhaps that's the next step.
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