It's Official....I've turned into my Mother!!

Well, today, much to my babysitting charge's dismay, I discovered that I have indeed turned into my mother!!

It all started when her FAVORITE cartoon was coming on right at dinner time. However, they are ALL her FAVORITES. So being the cunning little child she is, she attempted to convince me that dinner in front of the TV, atop the pristine and expensive couch, over the white carpet, on the glass coffee table was not only allowable, but endorsed by her mother. Finding this hard to believe, I enacted my standard rule for situations where my rules and the child's rules differ: we'll do it my way today, ask Mom tonight, and do it Mom's way tomorrow. This was NOT agreeable to her plight. But, being the Type A personality I was, I stood firm to the no eating in front of the TV. However, I did concede to leave the TV on while she ate. I should have known this was a bad idea. Three bites into the pasta (plain with a dab of butter--this will be discussed later) I'd made her, she decided that she was done and informed me of such and tried to plop herself in front of the boob tube once more. I, of course, was not buying this. I told her to take three more bites and drink the rest of her milk. While I had, admittedly, made more pasta than she would be expected to eat, she had not eaten a sufficient amount of it. Well, that was NOT acceptable either!! So, I decided that the television really didn't need to be on until she'd complied with my requests. After some fighting on her part and some firm ground laying of MY rules, she finally conceded to do as I'd requested. Then she IMMEDIATELY wanted desert. I don't think so. I told her she could wait until her mom got home and then her mom could decide when she ate it. She didn't fight too hard since she knew I was putting my foot down and she'd already lost so many battles. She went back to watching TV and effectively ignoring me until her mom came home.

When Mom came home I asked her if dinner was allowed to be served in front of the television. I got a laughing "of course not" as my response. The protests from the living room were pathetic and quickly quieted by Mom. Then I asked her if I should have been serving her daughter any fruits and veggies or protein or something with her dinner. She's allowed to ask for whatever she wants for dinner and always wants pasta or spaghetti-o’s or something equally un-nutritional. Her mom's response was that whatever she wants is fine. If she wants chicken nuggets and french fries, they're in the freezer and that's fine. If she wants canned peas or canned corn or canned potatoes, that's fine as well. I'm sorry, I come from the school that peas, corn, and potatoes are starches holding very little to no nutritional value. I was ASTOUNDED that this mother didn’t ask me to provide ANYTHING to her daughter to help her growth and development other than whole milk.

I called my mother to tell her the story when I was on my way home, laughing the whole way. I really have turned into my mother. I accept that in this notion. Perhaps when I grow up and actually start cooking for myself, I'll be more inclined to prepare well rounded meals. Oy!