It turns out that the kiddo hates, with a passion, one of the staples of being a toddler. One of the things that, I’m a little embarrassed to admit, I crave when I was pregnant. Not just craved, but could NOT LIVE WITHOUT. I think I ate it everyday during my first trimester. After that, the cravings changed. I still craved cheese, just not the powdery-kind that passes for cheese. Can you guess what it is?

Mac and Cheese

I’ve had mild success getting the kiddo to eat it in the past. I made a brand new pot on Sunday, and with Dad-oo’s request, I added a few hot dogs. Tada! Dinner is served. The kiddo did a pretty good job at eating. Well, he gobbled down the hot dog in 33.98 seconds and did pretty with the mac and cheese. Although we did have to encourage him by offering his cuppa cup after he ate 3 more bites. Which he did. Eventually.

I tried it three more times. The first two were for dinner again. He refused to eat it. Not even one teeny tiny bit. Yet he asked for cuppa cup and oranges over and over. Umm, no, I’m not your personal chef. Take 3 bites, then you can an orange. That doesn’t sound too unreasonable does it? Out came the pouty lip, the over dramatic head thrown back, and an oh-so-sassy “Noooooooooooo!” Fast forward, he went to bed two nights in a row with no dinner. Only milk.

I gave it one last try during lunch. I reasonably thought maybe he just wasn’t hungry at dinner. He eats two large meals and 2-3 snacks during the day, so that would make sense. I was sure that the lunch time mac and cheese would be a success.

Boy, was I wrong.

Screaming, zero bites (it was even covered in extra cheese!), tears, sassiness, head tosses, forks on the ground. You name it. He did it.I even broke down and offered a different meal, turkey, crackers and cheese. This is one of his all-time fave meals. He ate a few crackers, but no turkey or cheese. He asked for cuppa cup. I said yes, after two bites of turkey. One bite later, I have no hope that there will be a second bite. Mostly because he’s lost all sensed of control, reason or sensability. It’s almost like he’s a toddler. Strange. So, off to nap time he went, kicking and screaming.

OK. I get it. You don’t like Mac and Cheese. Lesson learned.