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"And I'll just go for it."

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Simongreen


I had one of those experiences with Simon last night on our way to the swimming pool reminding me once again that he is just downright awesome.


Drive-through McDonald's is one of our things. We go through a pretty stable routine each time: ordering a Happy Meal for the toy (especially Kung Fu Panda toys - he and Chris saw the movie last weekend) and chicken nuggets; talking about the number one window + the number two window; choosing between OJ, chocolate milk, or the occasional Sierra Mist.


Let me step back a minute and preface this by saying we have been having some major food battles lately. I hate the word battle because that implies a winner and a loser...our goal is to get him to try something new at each meal and take one very small bite as a "no thank you" bite (along with getting some variety into his diet). Trust me, it has been one of the biggest challenges in our experience as parents.


Back to last night and the story at hand. I put in the regular order for a Happy Meal with chicken nuggets. After pulling out and heading down the road I hand the box back to him and he pulls out a cheeseburger. On past adventures this could have resulted in a major upset (or me simply turning around and going back to McDonald's to correct our order). I see the burger in the rearview mirror as I am checking the clock to see how much time we have to make it to the pool before the "sorry we are full" sign goes up. In the span of secondsI am wondering to myself which is going to be worse: not getting the expected chicken nuggets or not getting to swim?


But he didn't freak out.


"Hey, here's a hamburger," he said and started to pass it to me. No whining. No crying. No freaking out.


Somehow I managed to say, "How about trying that cheeseburger tonight?" I braced a bit as I waited for the issue to escalate.


He simply said, "Okay."


It was an "okay" in a super cheerful manner that demonstrated no indication of ever having issues with different foods. At that point I should have just pulled over and did the craziest celebration dance possible that he was even okay with the idea of opening the package let alone take a bite.


I tried super hard not to make a big deal about. "That sounds like a plan," I said as I peeked into the rear-view mirror to see if he was really going to actually for real take a bite. And he did. No big deal. No fanfare. No saying "this is gross." No protesting. Just a little nibble bite along the edge and then he set it back down on the plastic wrapper in his lap.


"Did you like it?" I asked?


"I did."


In my head I was freaking out. Holy cow this could be it. This could be the breakthrough we have been hoping for and working towards related to not making a huge deal out of trying a new food.


"Are you going to eat some more?"


"Yes. I like hamburgers."


We drove along and he munched on his french fries amidst telling me stories about the Higglytown Heroes episode he had been watching on the computer before leaving for the pool.


"Are you going to eat any more hamburger?" I asked as we continued on our way.


"Yes, I'll just go for it."


In reality he didn't even hit the meat, cheese, ketchup or anything except the bun.


But man, what a great start.


Go for it, Simon, go for it.

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