Tonight was a “Mother of the Year” moment.  One of those days.  It’s been a long ten days and the kids and I are both missing their daddy.  Tomorrow we fly to Manitoba for Christmas holidays and it’s a good thing. Because I cannot promise these children would survive another day at home with me.

At dinner I was determined to win the meal-time battle with Kieran. He continues to test my patience by consuming only bananas and cheese.  Really. I can put other foods on his plate but he will pick out the foods he deems consumable and use the rest as a medium for works of art.  We’ve fought over ever meal this week. So today I tempted his palate with a delicious home-cooked meal let him scream over the fact that the food on his plate was so NOT cheese and then I shoved spoonfuls of food in his piehole whenever he opened his mouth wide enough.  I tried breaking off small pieces of cheese and putting them on the spoon with the mashed potatoes.  The result? Weeping and gnashing of teeth and howling, because clearly this is a violation of everything holy.  The cheese must not be mixed with other foods!  Is nothing sacred???  The tantrum ranked up there with the epic hysterics unleashed upon me when I put the soup in the sippy cup. The wailing went on and on and I was afraid he would choke or inhale the food in his mouth. But not afraid enough to stop trying to get him to eat.

Is this something that happens to us when we become mothers?  We’d rather set ourselves on fire than let our kids not eat a meal.   Maybe it’s just me.  So after an hour of fighting I told him he could just go without supper and I don’t give a damn gave him a banana.

Kieran: 1, Mom: 0. Thank sweet baby Jesus that, as of tomorrow, I will have some backup again!