Parents--1 Kids--0

We scored a big one for the Parental Team yesterday.  And I'm still giggling over it.

A bit of back story:  Last year our next door neighbor died.  He was a nice man & we enjoyed having him & his wife as our neighbors.

Slowly Miss Aida started going downhill & it became clear that she couldn't handle living in the house by herself. A couple months ago she moved into a retirement home & has a nice one bedroom apartment.  Yesterday we were invited to go to a house warming luncheon at the facility.

A little more back story---Sunshine is a picky eater.  Has been since she turned 3.  Before then, she would eat anything.  But when Hunter deployed a month before she turned 3, the tables turned.  Combine the fact that Daddy was gone with the whole emergence of free will that comes with the 3's & we found ourselves with a picky eater.  And a stubborn one at that.

Going to functions with her can be tricky as we don't know what will be available for children.  Yesterday we found ourselves being served chicken fried steak.  I don't even eat chicken fried steak.  I mean, I did yesterday, but it's not high on my list of favorites.

Sunshine had some crackers & some jello while we were eating our salad course.  Then the entree came out. I was already planning what I'd fix for her once we got home in my mind when she was pointing to my plate.  "Would you like to try a bite?" I asked.  "Yes, please"  she said.  Yes, my daughter says please, thank you, you're welcome & excuse me.  That's one thing I drilled into her head when she was in the Terrible 3's.  People will tolerate a child that's polite far more than they will a child who's wild.  At least in my experience.

So as I'm cutting a bite of the chicken fried steak for her, she asks if the gravy is ranch dressing.

This is one time I should have lied & said yes, but I told her that it was gravy.  No points awarded to either team for this one.

She takes a bite & decides that chicken fried steak is yummy & can she have her own.

Now, I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that I never told her it was chicken fried steak.  She heard the servers say "CHICKEN blah blah blah" & ran with it.  Who was I to correct her?

So we asked for a  plate without gravy, but could she please have a side of ranch?

She ate every bite except for 2.

I couldn't stop giggling the whole meal.  And I'm still giggling when I think about it.

And I'm still patting myself on the back saying "Well played, mommy, well played!"