Buffet Boy!!!

I was always thrilled that Shiv loved his food unlike myself as a child. Nothing stayed in my tummy for more than a minute. My mother was always wiping up regurgitated food off of the floor, and chasing me around the house, trying to get a spoonful of anything edible into my mouth. I guess her persistence paid off because I absolutely love eating now. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but will happily attack large amounts of meat at any time of day. I won't be surprised if someday McDonalds has my face on a banner, announcing me their official burger endorser. But I doubt that's going to happen, since people might be suspicious of the South Asian woman with the big grin and thus, avoid Mickey Dee's altogether. And then of course, I might be excommunicated by the Hindu community for promoting the consumption of the cow, which we consider a holy animal back in India. How blasphemous of me!!!!

Anyway, I've always wanted Shiv to be an adventurous eater like his parents are. Unfortunately, my zealousness in exposing him to different foods is that he has not only taken to a variety of different edible substances but demands that variety every meal!!! How exhausting!! Anyway, here's an example of the contents of Shiv's lunch:

1. Two spoonfuls of rice, lentil and vegetable mixture (pressure-cooked to optimum softness to ensure minimum chewing)
2. Three cheerios
3. Four goldfish crackers
4. A mouthful of banana
5. Five grapes

(Hmmm, maybe the numbers are some kind of code he's using to communicate with the aliens!!)

6. A small bowl of yogurt, most of which has been smeared on his face and hair, making him look like a native of the Amazon forest.
7. A few bites of a cheese stick.
8. Several sips of water (which I pray has some miraculous nutritional substances for fussy eaters).....

And the list varies everyday. It's never consistent; at least in which case I know how much of what food to lay out on the table for my finicky little diner. It's always one big game of anticipation and guesswork. And I can't complain of not being rewarded with a big smile and sloppy kiss at the end, but hey, I deserve it!!!

Anyway, I'm convinced that my son was born to dine on buffets; Chinese, American home style, Indian....the cuisine doesn't really matter, as long as he can pick and choose from a hundred different dishes. And I'm sure he would make a great poster boy for the respective restaurants!!! Of course, I could look at it differently and assume that he might go to culinary school and become a great chef; write a book called "Discovering the Nibbler within us"; host his own show titled "Calling all Nibblers" or something like that. Or maybe he's just the average 19 month old, warning me of the "terrible twos" to come!!! I could keep pondering over it, but right now, I have a buffet table to set up for my little boy!