Alex is my good eater. Well, Juli is too. But she's a little less of a good eater than Alex. I think mostly because she's four, and she is obligated by the code of four year olds to say she doesn't like it. Nasty until proven tasty. But Alex, well, he will pretty much eat anything. Even if it’s spicy, it’s all good, Alex will eat it. The only two constant dislikes in his life have been broccoli and cheerios. Broccoli, well, now, you can kind of understand that one. I learned to like it a little later in life. (Juli started liking it after her Mum told her to pretend she was a giant eating a big tree.) But cheerios? Those are the staples of life for moms. Dinner not ready? Kid starving? Give him some cheerios to tide him over. But not Alex. He does NOT like cheerios. He didn’t like them when I offered them to him in the car. Didn’t like them at church. Didn’t like them in the chair… (if I was going Dr. Seuss on you, I’d say he didn’t like them ANYwhere.) Other people offered cheerios to Alex with the same result. A turning of the head, a curling of the lip… and a spit covered cheerio deposited in your hand. Now he won't even try them.
So today, Alex disappeared into the office – which scared me, since he gets into a lot of trouble in there – and was very quiet. “What is that boy up to?” I wondered, so I peeked in. There he was sitting in the corner, very quietly holding Juli’s bowl of dry cheerios and stuffing them by handfuls into his mouth! He looked up a bit guiltily when I entered, but polished them off anyway. The subsequent row Juli kicked up when she discovered the empty bowl was all he could have wished for – he looked quite pleased with himself.
“So,” I thought, “The boy has finally learned to like cheerios! How nice.” So I gave him a few while I made his lunch. He looked at me as if I was nuts, and proceeded to dump them all on the floor. Evidently, he still does not like cheerios. But one should never underestimate the call of the forbidden.
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