Is there a Gruffalo?

Posted By SLK on Thursday, July 08, 2010   { 1 Comment(s) }

Meal times with Kit Kat are usually ok now. When it was Kat on her own, she was a bit fussy and picky with the food but since the arrival of Kit, there is really so much happening at the dinner table now, that even Kat eats her food without any complaints. Generally I think Kat has become a better eater too.

Most days, I have to read the story of Ariel – The Little Mermaid or her daughter Melody. On the days that I am not reading, we have the story of an imaginary character called Megan and she is the bad girl. If you are the lucky mum whose kids eat all their dislikes without any distractions, then well done to you! Unfortunately, mine doesn’t and needs a good supply of both imagination & patience to swallow hers in between several minutes of detailed thinking (somehow Kit’s brain likes to think in greater, even slower detail when food is not of her liking and her mouth chews to match the pace…grrrh!) So here I am patiently weaving a story of Megan and the Gruffalo when suddenly she snaps out of it and says:

“There is no Gruffalo, is there? It’s all pretend. Come on, tell me”

(Kit’s confrontations on ‘telling truth’ make me uncomfortable – I have a feeling she is copying them from my interactions with Kat and is using them against me! )

Kat looks at me and smiles a knowing smile. I pause. I must be a bad story teller because Kit is only 3.5 years old. Gruffalo should exist for her. It’s way too early to lose Santa and all that – she hasn’t even lost a tooth yet! There must be a way around this I tell myself. Aha! Found it!

“Remember we saw Gruffalo in the book with his child. You saw him, didn’t you?” I tell Kit.

“Yes, I remember” she runs and gets the book and looks through the pages and gets lost in the pictures while I happily feed her the remainder of the dinner.

The meal ends with Kit hanging in between the two dining chairs and Kat trying to pull her own chair away so Kit can slide off and fall!

Tags: mealtime with kids