Turning A Profit

The boy has always been a picky eater. It is the one thing in life that I just cannot get over (ok, one of the things). I have cajoled, begged, pleaded, yelled, cried and medicated myself many times over the last 15 years over this very issue.

Dinner has always been an adventure and many times it’s been stressful. I always worried about what he would eat. Both the husband and I are vertically challenged so I worried that the boy would grow up to be an Upa Lumpa because he wouldn’t eat his carrots.

It’s been very, very hard.

The boy does have an irrepressible charm and a really great disposition. I think it’s a gift. And he knows how to turn a negative into a positive.

So he start asking for money for eating a raw clam.

And he actually gathers $30 from various family members, including his dad and his Poppop.

Lets just say the entire family knows of our plight so it wasn’t very hard to raise the money.

So here we go…

“Hold your nose!” says his Aunt Annaliese (isn’t that a nice German name?)

Down that hatch!

Yum…

The slimy clam oozes out his mouth and clings to his chin…sorry.

Is he okay?

The crowd waits breathlessly…

Yes! He comes up for air!

He’s alive! And he’s $30 richer the stinker. He certainly knows how to work a room.

The girl asked me if she could have $30 for eating a clam. I said no.

She’s my good eater. It’s not fair but at least she’ll go through life with a healthy appreciation for food. Which is more than I can say for the boy. People have told me that he will get over it when he gets older. I’ve waited almost 16 years, I guess I wait a little longer.

And one last kiss from his auntie.