Overwhelmed

Some days are like that. This is where single men get the idea that eating a TV dinner over the sink comes from: their fathers. I'm guilty: I have a hard time feeding the boy, since I can't get him to sit still, and making enough for just the two of us is hard, and figuring out that he will eat at all is tough...so, tonight before bed he sees the yogurt in the fridge, and wants some. So, he stands in front of me, with me at the computer, and I feed him yogurt. Two of the containers full. He wanted more, but I won't let him OD on yogurt. I give him fruit, or something along that line to eat, maybe some bread with margerine. Of course, it's whole wheat bread...I miss civilized dinners with no chaos, or minimal chaos...I have to wait for him to go down to bed before I eat sometimes because I don't want to deal with it, and he doesn't tell me he's hungry...I know I should feed him, and I know he's well fed because of the lady he stays with during the day...I don't like just feeding him the same thing all the time. It drives me crazy! I don't like feeding myself the same thing all the time, either. Hot food is an issue, because he likes it, but not hot, and sometimes he can't wait for it to cool before he tries to eat it, then he won't touch it.

I feel like a double victim because I have no one to rescue me from his whims, and I have to deal with telling him "no!" because I'm busy trying to cook, or whatever it is I'm doing.

This has not been a good night.


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He likes yellow rice...he loves veggies...he eats quinoa, and cheese, and pizza...and bread, and fruit, and spaghetti, and tomatoes, and I can't think of anymore. Gortons (non-recalled) fish. mashed potatoes, though he tends to overfill his mouth and gag on them, then I get icky mooshy mashed potatoes in my hand. not much of a diet, huh? He'll eat oriental style vegetables and chicken...I've just got to get the routine down...and the timing. And the strength to tell him no,and not be subject to his whims so much...it's for his own good. A very unhappy, overwhelmed daddy isn't a very good one. Boundaries...something I've struggled with my whole life. Now I have to set them with one person who thinks I'm the Most Important Person in the World. And it's hard...

Sigh. I'm having a beer now, and all it does is make things fuzzy. Sigh.

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Dressing David is no problem. I just do it. In spite of all of the protesting he does. Quite different with the food. I think I'm going back to the high chair, or something else to lock him down to the table. Another of my "Just do it" things, I suppose, no matter how much he protests. (BTW, he's 2 1/2)
In fact, I think a Nike commercial with "Just do it" should show a mom (or a dad, in our case, Jamie!) feeding her (his) kid. And how tough it is. Not comical-like, either, the way they always show feeding babies in commercials. Or, even better, showing Michael Jordan feeding a kid, for real. How about a movie? Ideas blossom in my head like this all the time! So, we have MJ, with his Nike shoes, and his Nike clothes, feeding a kid for real. And him frustrated (like all of us!) with it, but learning how to do it. The last time we saw a man having to deal (for real) with feeding a kid was in Kramer vs Kramer, I think. Eventually he could be a success at feeding the kid, and then at the end of the movie would appear the words (huge words!) Just Do It.

And the female version could be Mia Hamm...lol...

And Melanie, you made me laugh! So did Jamie, and everyone else! After re-reading everything, I think he just doesn't know how to handle not being tied to the chair. At his babysitter's house, he has a high chair, not at home, though! He does have a good variety of things he'll eat. I do include him in my meal planning, but I apparently haven't included him in my 'sit down and eat' plan. I have to remember how old he is, and how strong willed he is. And how I have to get stronger...or just a thicker skin. Something! Okay, now imagine the "Rocky" theme music...I have got the sports metaphor thing going! I guess I don't want to go all the way on the discipline thing, but I guess I have to. I don't want him to be a failure in life...He seems to like his babysitter just fine. In some ways, I feel like she's raising him, and teaching me at the same time. He knows what's expected, he knows how it's going to go. Sigh...I am sooo not like that. They say children change your life, but it's impossible to say how until you have one, and then another might change you some other way!