We've been having trouble with David and eating. This is not new news. But John and I hit our breaking point Monday night. You'd think having choices would be a good thing.

Mommy: David what do you want for lunch?
David: I don't know.
Mommy: Would you like cheesy rice or cheesy breadsticks?
David: I don't like those.
Mommy: Well, what do you want?
David: Cinnamon toast.
Mommy: Cinnamon toast is not grow food. Do you want melted cheese with that?
David: NO! NO! NO!

This conversation was getting more frequent, more intense, and more miserable. So, John came up with a brilliant solution. We told David he could make a menu of possible lunch items, but then we would pick for him. There would be no more choice when he was tired and hungry.

At first David refused to make the menu. But we just tried again in the morning and managed to get six items on it. Then, come lunch on Tuesday, I put order #6 in front of him: a plate of melted cheese and a chocolate chip banana muffin. Do you see my mistake? He ate the muffin, and we had a fight about the cheese. I resorted to calm threats. There will be no dessert until that cheese is eaten. After my rest time, he politely asked me to reheat the cheese, I did so, and he ate it.

Yesterday, no problem at all with the monteray jack melted on Daddy bread with honey added. But today, he started to throw a fit about the chips and cheese. I said it was on the menu. He asked to see the menu, so he could cross it out. I said no. He ate the chips and cheese.

The thing is, these are all foods I know he likes. He was just engaging in a power struggle. So I took my end of the rope and tied it to a tree. No more tugging on me.