After what has been a very difficult day, I had to let the boys have a distraction whilst eating their dinner tonight. The past couple of nights, the boys have been taking longer and longer to eat their dinner. So tonight, I let them have an item to play with.

For Tyson, it was doing his ‘work’. Just before christmas, I purchased a learning whiteboard book that teaches children how to write their ABC’s as well as numbers and shapes. It’s a great item as Tyson can trace over the characters with a whiteboard marker, then wipe with a tissue and do it all again. He loves it and it can keep him occupied for quite some time. Tonight was no exception and it worked an absolute treat. Dinner was eaten with very little fuss – if only he would put the food on the fork himself, now that would be great

With Taj, well, he had several items. A couple of toys dinosaur skeletons that came with Happy Meals, a dolphin water game (very safe), a book about a Teddy Bear in the garden, and a small magna-doodle was all it took to keep Taj distracted enough to eat his dinner in record time. Taj will eat his dinner with his fingers, he just takes ages and ages if the ‘conditions’ aren’t right.

I did feel a little guilty about letting the boys play whilst eating dinner. However, it helped avoid all the stress of just trying to get them to consider eating.

In the end, I think this is what is most important.

Roxy

(image: Tyson does his ‘work’ whilst eating dinner)