What the SPORK is for Lunch?

Reunited, and it feels so good... I saw an old friend recently, and hilarity ensued. We've been working with Landon on eating with utensils and while she can get the food onto her little spoon, she is having a problem keeping it level on the way to her mouth. Enter the SPORK...

Once upon a time, a spoon and  a fork fell in love. Resulting in the Spork.

 Sporks make me think of Ruprecht.. If you have never seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels then you should. No need to talk about how non PC it is, the point of Ruprecht and the movie is that the men are scoundrels, aka wicked or evil people. 

Ruprecht didn't really have a spork, he had a trident and a corked fork.

 Back to the SPORK... It gives L the ability to stab her food, and stabbed food is much less likely to fall off of the utensil when it is not being kept level. See how this is working for me? Less falling food = less food that has to be retrieved from the floor at a later time.

So exactly what the spork did L have for lunch? Let's start with some updates... L is not shunning any food entirely, which is somewhat more frustrating than if I could tell you "She no longer eats spinach" or "She now hates fish." She has just gotten very particular about what she wants when. It's driving me bananas, but I'm taking it all in stride, remembering that when she is hungry, she will eat and I'm not going to run all over my kitchen wasting 3-4 servings of food trying to find out what she is hungry for that day. Don't get angry with me, I'm not starving her. She has standby food that she still always loves and I make sure to include at least one of those in every meal, so she always has something I know that she will eat. These foods include: tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, avocado, sharp cheddar cheese, and pasta. 

We still let her try pretty much any food because the chances she will eat it are the same regardless. Today she had some leftover Chicken Tikka Masala with Jasmine rice and Naan Bread from our favorite Pakistani/Indian restaurant. It was my original starter Indian food and her Aunt R is loving it right now too, while taking Indian Food baby steps. They can do it together. Best Friends Club. Here's how it went:

Naan Good

Chicken Tikka Masala with Jasmine Rice

SPORKING SUPERSTAR!

All hail the SPORK

She has been extra picky about chicken so this was a huge success. She loved the naan (what's not to love?) and ate most of the chicken. My standby foods that I knew she would eat: broccoli and rice. Then after she told me she was finished she asked for a few bites of banana and a few cheerios. Indecision thy name is toddler. 

Let's get real: the spork is a gimmick. A great one, but still, something I use to make L interested in eating her food. I've been trying all kinds of things lately. Here's a Monday night confession for you: When in doubt, food sound effects work. You know the dumb airplane noise? Well we prefer the "drop the bomb" sound effect. You can just imagine the sounds, I'm not going to take you there. At least not right now. I often stop mid meal and give thanks that no one is witnessing Landy and I at work. Kids make you look like a giant idiot, but that's ok. If you don't feel like an idiot most of the time, you are probably not having any fun. 

SO give it to me parents... what are the gimmicks you use to get your kids to eat? Or maybe you have been caught in public when you looked like a big idiot with your kids.. I need to know these things so I feel more normal. Thank you in advance. 

Peace the Spork Out,

-RT

PS - Boardwalk Empire Premier = INSANE. Loved it.