Choosy moms choose margaritas

I like giving the G-man the chance to voice his opinion. Solicited opinion, that is. According to the books, sites, etc., this helps kids feel empowered, important and in control. Whatever. All I know is that this strategy works. Sometimes. Ok, as I've mentioned before he is in opposite land so most decision opportunities do not go smoothly. But, I have been starting to see success in his eating if he's heavily involved in the selection process.

There are times I give him choices - eggs or oatmeal? - and times I leave it open - what do you want for breakfast? If he has input, he's been eating more. However, food consumption and meal cooperation seem to have a direct correlation with when his choice is made and when the food appears. Ask him about dinner at 4:30 and serve it at 5:15? Chances are, he'll refuse to come to the table, much less eat it. And that includes when he helps make it, too. But, ask him at 5:00 and serve it at 5:05? Look out, calories may be consumed.

I'll state right now that unless we are having cereal for dinner, that 5 minute window is really hard to achieve. Good thing he likes cereal.

Try as I might to get his input and agreement on what to serve, when to serve and how to serve it, there are some things that stump me. No matter what I do, I fail.

Take school lunch. I make it the night before to save time in the morning. Yesterday, he said he wanted celery in his lunch. Check. Got it in, cut the way he likes it. So when I asked him what he ate for lunch today, part of our conversation went something like this:

"What else was in your lunch today?"

"Celery!"

"Did you eat it?"

"No."

"I thought you said you wanted it."

"I did."

"Why didn't you eat it?"

"I just wanted it in my bag. I didn't want to eat it."

"..."

Sadly, this is becoming the norm. I'm realizing the choices G-man makes are for different reasons than I intended. When he asks for pancakes, he doesn't want to eat them, he just wants to stir batter. He swears he likes tomatoes at the market only to shamelessly tell me later that he wanted them because they are red. When asked to pick a shirt in the morning, he seems shocked that I expect him to wear it and not just carry it around or give it a prize for being the chosen one.

Perhaps one day our expectations will sync up. Until then, I'll do my best to stay one step ahead of where I think his logic is going...or just get out of the way.