Adventures in Dining

If you have not had the joy of eating with two three year olds, you should consider yourself invited to our place for a meal. It's an adventure to say the least. Here's my lunchtime recap from today. I call it "Cirque de Peanut Butter and Oranges."

Two children, sitting, prayers said, one orange rescued from someone's mouth before said prayer. Children start happily and quietly enjoying their peanut butter sandwiches. For about ten seconds. First child holds half a sandwich up to his ear and starts talking like it's a cell phone. Second child follows suit. (No need to wonder what mystery gunk is in their hair; today I KNOW.) Children told to put sandwiches down. One child does and picks up her orange sections, which she pokes holes in and slides onto her fingers like rings. Child told to just eat her oranges. Other child has now poked a hole in his sandwich and is trying to wear his sandwich like a ring as well. When told to stop, he holds the hole up to his eye and pretends to take pictures with his handy dandy all in one sandwich/camera. In the meantime, child number two has taken the orange sections and jammed them into holes that she made in the top of her sandwich, like a some little Dutch boy plugging a dike. Orange/peanut butter combination is ignored by the adult; sandwich used as a camera is not. Boy decides he is done with his sandwich after eating a half, is reminded to try his oranges and washes his hands. Girl attempts to extract the peanut butter from the sandwich (still stuffed with oranges) by using only her index finger to scoop out the peanut butter from between the slices of bread. At seeing the boy go wash his hands, she decides she too is done. Until her mother breaks her heart by telling her that she has eaten hardly any of her sandwich and must come back and eat at least two more bites. Somewhere in between all of that, leftover Sesame Chicken was consumed in a much more orderly way by one woman who is hoping that her children's table manners will improve before they go to kindergarten/pre school.