Not until you eat all of your vegetables.....

So dinner tonight was grilled chicken and grilled vegetables (zucchini, squash, onions) with frozen chocolate covered banana bites for dessert. Caed was famished when we got him home from preschool so I gave him some cheese and a handful of grapes to tide him over while I cooked. I kept his little snack in mind when dinner was ready, and I prepared a plate for him consisting of about 5 bite sized pieces of chicken, a sliced Roma tomato, and 3 spears of grilled squash/zucchini. He ate his chicken and tomatoes and then said he was finished. Patrick being the wonderful dad that he is reminded Caed that we had dessert BUT he couldn't have any until he ATE ALL OF HIS VEGETABLES.....Caed has always been a good eater. He eats most anything, especially when he is hungry. Tonight, however, I knew that wasn't the case. Between the snack and the chicken, those veggies weren't going down easy. Feeling his pain, I cut them up in small pieces and thinking I was helping told him to eat them fast. He ate the first few pieces quickly with no problem, but regret filled my being when I saw him stab 3 pieces of veggies, cram them in his mouth, begin chewing, shudder a bit and reach for his water......Before we could do anything, the veggies made a 2nd appearance. TMI, I know, but at that moment, I felt like a parent. Eat your veggies till you puke kid!!!! :-) Caed is a trooper at withstanding our abuse! After a minute of comforting and reassurance that he had eaten enough veggies to earn a dessert, we were all laughing about it. I'm interested to see what the response will be next time I serve grilled veggies!