Cat Food for Lunch

My oldest child has always been a picky eater - always. When he was in pre-school, we had morning trauma if his Pop-Tart was somehow broken. He wouldn't eat the broken one, he didn't want a new one - he wanted the broken one, NOT broken. Like I could somehow magically repair it. He cried, devastated, in that way that makes all moms wish they could wave a magic wand and make everything better.

One of my favorite food moments with him, though, came at the end of a school day. I picked him up at daycare, asked him how his day went, and he burst into tears.

"They tried to make me eat cat food for lunch!"

Of course I tried to reassure him that they would never do such a thing, but he was insistent. "I said I didn't want any, but they made me take a 'thank you' bite!" More tears.

Confused, the following day I asked what they had served for lunch the day before.


Answer: tuna fish!

I know many of you are parents. Have you ever used any of your children's funny, weird, or frightening moments in any of your books?