Smarshmallows . . .Regurgitation . . . Snacks

We have new obsessions (when I say "we" I mean Addison, Ethan, and Caden). Addison is hopelessly, compulsively addicted to marshmallows or as she calls them "smarshmallows". And no, she cannot possibly asked for them in a sweet, pleasant way. . . she MUST say it like it is the biggest emergency ever and cry and whine so that I can only think she must be injured in some way. We are working hard on getting her to say things in a "nice" way with the word "please" and she does do it occasionally without being asked. She does say "thank you" more often without being prompted but we are also working on that. She loves smarshmallows and this morning when I handed her a bowl of mini doughnuts and banana (not the healthiest breakfast but we have to get to school), she starts crying and whining. I ask what's the problem? "Want smarshmallows, mom!" (like I'm just supposed to know that). So like the good mommy that I am (actually I'm just too tired to fight it and we have to get ready for school) I give her marshmallows with the rest of her super healthy breakfast.

Ethan has a more annoying habit. He loves to chew up his food and spit it back out and then after it sits on his plate for a while he eats again . . . baby bird style! It is so appetizing to dine with him. Sometimes he spits food back out and all over his shirt. He is also quite fond of spitting out milk or juice all over his shirt. I do my best to ignore it because he watches to see if you are looking at him and then proceeds to regurgitate, smiling the entire the time. Aaron has a hard time with this and cannot help but make comments to him which of course makes a toddler (well, this toddler) want to do it all the more. I really don't know why he does it other than to get some extra attention. I'm hoping he'll get tired of it soon all though it's been going on a few months now. I certainly don't like to take him to restaurants when he's doing that.

Caden doesn't have too much of an obsession other than asking for "snacks" about every hour. He's cut back a bit on it but sometimes it seems he won't give up. When my kids say "snacks" they mean snacks and not a meal. Many times they are getting hungry because it is getting close to a mealtime and I will say I'm fixing you breakfast or lunch right now. And that is not the answer they are looking for and we have some tantrums. So I guess I will just start calling pancakes, pot roast, hamburgers, mac and cheese "snacks" and that will solve the problem.

So today I am off to clean the playroom and living room floors of all the regurgitated drinks and food, smarshmallows, and snacks. They are so bad you cannot touch any surface without becoming sticky -- so glad we had hardwoods and not carpet (we would need to replace carpeting monthly here). Not exactly how I'd like to spend some of my nap time today but that's the price I pay for being a mommy and having kids with poor eating habits!