My mother’s group message board has been lighting up lately with requests for baby food inspiration. It’s been a reminder that I’m in kind of a rut. I’m not going to be too hard on myself — what I call “a rut” is really “the total lack of downtime afforded to two working parents whose child has abandoned his nap” — but the long and the short of it is this: I am sick of the sight/taste/prospect of my own cooking. I make the same damn things every week and it’s boooor-ing.
My CSA box is the only thing keeping our kitchen remotely interesting these days. (Along with the odd pregnancy craving: the other night I insisted on chicken sausages with sauerkraut and ketchup, which was totally weird, out-of-character, and delicious). And as my colleagues keep declaring with glee as they flourish their midmorning snacks: “It’s stone fruit season!” Which I will agree is a lovely season indeed, gastronomically speaking.
And yet one out of three members of our household still stubbornly refuses to eat fruit. The other evening, as I was describing the contents of this afternoon’s CSA delivery to my husband, he pointed out that we have stopped trying to give new fruit to Babyman. It’s true! Somewhere along the line, we gave up. We contented ourselves with bananas (when Babyman feels like it), apple slices (with the skins cut off, thank you very much, and provided Daddy is eating them too), and dried mangoes and called it a day.
In our defense, it has not been the easiest of stretches as far as adapting goes. The Big Boy Bed has been stressful beyond my wildest imagination: bedtime shifted back to about 10pm, naps ceased altogether, and as a final straw, last week I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to find my darling child closed in the bathroom, sitting in the sink so he could see himself in the mirror above the medicine cabinet, holding a book of matches. Potty training looms ahead of us…Not to mention a teeny, tiny chink in the routine when a whole new human being moves into our lives this summer. Suffice to say that Babyman’s grape consumption is waaaay at the bottom of my list of concerns at the moment.
Yet as I tuck into my second nectarine of the day I can’t help but feel I am letting Babyman down. Strawberries, peaches, watermelon — it’s a world of wonder he hasn’t explored! Therefore I am vowing henceforth to put fruit on his plate at every available opportunity in the coming months. Tonight, that means watermelon. Tomorrow morning, cherries (which Babyman said he ate at the farmer’s market with his class…but I am skeptical). Will any of it get eaten? My gut says…NO. As my husband pointed out, “Babyman is really not good about trying new things.” But you have to start somewhere, and someday. (With the fruit training, that is. Potty training can wait.)
Leave a Comment