Carrot Cake

At school each week Kimmie goes shopping with one of her teachers. They take her to the grocery store where Kimmie practices finding the items in the store and purchasing them through the self-scan or a regular check out lane.

Each week I send in a list of three or four items for Kimmie to shop for that week, along with money to make the purchase. Of course the list has to be non-perishable items that Kimmie can bring home on the bus, but I try to mix it up with a variety of stuff . . . canned goods, cookies, crackers, pretzels, pudding, paper towels, toothpaste, pasta, ketchup, soap, chapstick, cake mixes, brownie mixes . . . you get the idea. I try to keep them moving around the store.

A few weeks ago I put on the list a cake mix, whatever flavor Kimmie chose. We all expected her to come home with a chocolate cake since that tends to be her favorite. Much to our surprise she came home with a carrot cake mix.

A couple weeks later I baked the cake. We asked Kimmie if she wanted some carrot cake. She looked at me kinda weird and shook her head yes, but when I set it down in front of her she pushed it away and signed, "no, no." I guess it didn't look quite like what she expected. I let it go that night even though I was sure she'd like it if she tried it.

The next evening when we were eating more cake, we asked her again if she wanted some. She again said yes, until she saw it. BUT, we didn't let her off the hook.

Instead we kinda ganged up on her. Her Dad, her sister and I all started singing the "magic eating song." (See previous post.) Kimmie tried to resist, signing no and turning her head away, but by the second verse she couldn't resist any longer. She started signing the song with us, and then her mouth popped open. In went the carrot cake, and we all stopped singing to watch her reaction. As soon as the cake hit her tongue, her eyes lit up. We knew she'd like it once she tried it.

We didn't have to sing any more, and her piece of cake disappeared quickly.

She's so funny!

--Mom

Picky eaters

Kimmie is not really very picky about food. We are lucky that way, I am sure many special kids are very hard to keep on a good nutrition diet. In fact, her siblings are more picky -- her sister doesn't like green beans or mushrooms, and her brother won't eat corn or peas. Mom doesn't like peas, but likes corn and green beans.....you get the idea. We usually fix three vegetables, and the house rule is you have to eat two.

Kimmie has had a few memorable moments though.

We (except her sister) like mushrooms in our spaghetti sauce. Kimmie had to gradually acquire a taste. The first time we had them, I gave her a nice spoonful of spaghetti and sauce. She chewed, swallowed, kind of rolling it around in her mouth. After a minute or so, out popped the mushroom and fell in her lap. It was as clean as if it had been washed. Picture a miniature piece of toast out of a toaster, only horizontally. We didn't add the mushrooms again for a long time.

Another day I served Brussels sprouts (I like a lot more variety than the rest of the family). Remember the house rule? I also really try to have the kids taste anything new, even in a small quantity. I put one sprout on Kimmie's plate, and turned to pass the dish.

Her little hand moved so fast it was nearly invisible, picked up the sprout gingerly between thumb and forefinger, deposited it neatly on my plate, and vanished. She sat there with a "Who, me? Nothing unusual here" expression, as everyone else started cackling.

I put it back on her plate, reached for the next dish -- and the same lightening fast maneuver left the sprout next to the others on my plate again. I conceded defeat, and she never did taste the Brussels sprouts. I am not sure anyone else did either, we were all laughing so hard.

--Dad