As you can imagine, mamaguru is adamant about children eating vegetables.
Nevertheless, when my kids turned 2 1/2, they each waged their own Vegetable War. We battled it out for about a year. This is when my husband started giving the kids their bathes. After struggling through dinner prep and dinner itself, I needed a breather to be fresh, kind, and patient for bedtime stories. Of course, every night wasn’t a fight, but more often than not, Complaining and Cajoling were our uninvited dinner guests.
What a tiresome twosome!
As each child settled into being three years old, suddenly my efforts paid off. Certain vegetables sprouted as favorites, others were amicably tolerated. Max, who had given me the most grief, tuned out to love sweet potato salad and tomatoes with a fever. Jack, after being ordered to choose at least one vegetable he liked, gave it some thought, chose broccoli and instantly became a mini tree freak. I am so glad I never gave up, even though it looked like my efforts were in vain for so long.
Yesterday, we went to the Fall Festival at the Flamingo Road Nursery and Farmer’s Market. For those keeping tabs on me: yes, the day after I sold my goods at a farmer’s market, I went to another. (Don’t worry, that craziness is consistent with my personality.) I needed to buy some herbs and veggies for my garden, and the festival promised hayrides, a pumpkin patch, and a chance to meet Mater from Cars and Herbie, the old slug bug.
It was crowded, but we had a nice picnic and a fun hayride. I bought some delicious veggies and beautiful plants. The best part was splitting up the kids. Andres lollygagged with Jack, and I ran away with our firstborn son. I used to have a few hours alone with Max everyday when Jack napped, but now that he’s in school, I rarely see him outside of a pair.
We went to a tasting room together and had a blast. Max shocked the balsamic vinegar vendor by sipping his samples straight. We tried a 20 year old aged variety, fig, chocolate, and apricot. Max preferred the classic, aged to the sweeter flavors. Next we sampled some spreads: smoked pepper, artichoke and capers, and sundried tomatoes. Max loved them all, but like me, the sun dried tomato was tops. His face lit up at seeing the Swiss chard, and asked me to buy some. He loves my recipe for it.
Later as I chose my herb plants, I tasted their leaves. My kids have always rejected these samples in the past. But yesterday, Max tasted and discerned each leaf, delighted to discover a purple basil. What a fun pesto that will be! We both tried sorrel for the first time and were surprised that its green leaves taste just like grapes!
What a budding foodie I have!
As we drove home I wondered aloud what girl Max would love one day.
He looked at me, perplexed and said,
You. You’re the girl I love.
I realized, at this moment in time, my love fills him up completely.
Not a thing is missing.
Not a thing is missing, that was my first thought when he entered the world.
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