The Applesauce Fit

Please excuse my daughter. It seems she has some ice cream on her face. See, she really shouldn't have ice cream. But do you also notice the tears in her beautiful eyes? Those are not tears of sadness or anger. They are tears of a pretty girl who believes that she is tragically deprived of all things yummy.

It all started when dinner time arrived. I steamed some veggies for her and while they were cooking I fed her some applesauce. She LOVES applesauce. And I bought granny smith apple applesauce today and she seemed to love that even more. But unfortunately she finished the container just in time for her to eat her veggies....or so one would think. She in fact did not want steamed veggies. Nosiree, she wanted applesauce and there was nothing anyone could do about it. It took me quite awhile to realize what she wanted and by the time I did she was in the middle of a full-blown fit. So, instead of just giving her what she wanted, by this time we were all annoyed (read: angry) and I wasn't about to give in to the fit and give her what she wanted.

So I did the next best thing. Dustin and I decided we could not handle this *behavior* all the way to bedtime and we wanted some ice cream. We loaded up in the car to take her mind off her fit, to kill some time, and to get some delicious waffle cones at Baskin Robbins. Dustin got his ice cream and immediately I saw the flaw in my perfect plan. Reese wanted that ice cream so bad she threw an even bigger fit in the middle of Baskin Robbins until we gave her some. This time she did happen to get her way. I just couldn't do it again, for the sanity of my marriage and my mental health, the child (deprived as she may so be) got the ice cream.

Here is what I learned: 1. Applesauce comes at the end of the meal. 2. Always have back ups ready and waiting to be served. 3. Giving ice cream in lieu of applesauce may or may not be the correct answer. 4. Sunday evening can be the best or the worst time to get your way if you are a child. Either your mother is too tired to argue anymore or she will dig her heels in until she hits China with them. 5. Ice cream solves all ailments.