Progress

As I have documented on this blog time and again, Caroline is battling us each night at the dinner table.

We have now reached an important stage where we can require Caroline to eat a certain number of bites of her least favorite foods (typically this is the meat portion of her dinner). In most cases we are bribing her with some sort of treat, but I am hoping to move away from this soon. It certainly is not the best parenting strategy and I'm not recommending it, but it works for her right now (and it is hilarious to watch).

Tonight, for example, we required Caroline to eat two bites of chicken before we would let her share a cookie with Lucy. When we told her that she had to do this, she lost her mind. She screamed, cried, pushed her chair away from the table, and said, "All done!" When Lucy finished her dinner and was given half of the cookie, Caroline realized that we were serious. So with an annoyed look on her face, Caroline stared us down while shoving both pieces into her mouth.

If you look closely, you can see tears in her eyes.

All smiles now that she has a cookie

You know who always makes out like a bandit in these situations?
This girl.

I ate a dinner I really liked and I get a cookie? I'll take it.