Did it Really Happen?

Something very unusual happened here at dinner tonight.

Tonight I made chicken souvlaki pitas. [They were delish] They are not something that I commonly make either. You know how you tend to have the same meals over and over and over... It's not bad. It's just a little bit predictable. And let's face it, when there are meal plans and kids involved, I tend to go with what I know. Well, this past weekend, I was browsing through flyers [I'm the one person who LOVES to get my stack of flyers in the mail... I will actually call Flyer Force, when they don't turn up] I saw an ad and picture for Chicken Souvlaki. So it was no surprise that this weeks meal plan included Chicken Souvlaki. Barry barbecued the chicken [which came pre-marinated] I cut up cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and romaine lettuce. I cut pita's in half, and had tzatziki sauce. I then called the kids to the table, this is where it got a bit unusual.

Instead of Madelyn having her usual pre-dinner tantrum. She came to the table and sat down. [Like, she did what she was told here, people] Then, a series of unusual things happened... First off, she didn't come to the table and say "That looks weird", about any of the food she saw. [A common, if not daily, occurrence] Then, she told me she wanted to try a tomato, which she took a bite out of and exclaimed "This is good!" She then reached for a pita, and began to fill it with lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes... [Can you see how I was feeling a bit apprehensive and out of my element with all this?] She then said she thought she needed some 'sauce'. So, she was given a bit of tzatziki on her plate. She dipped and tasted and made some 'eating actions' [much like I suspect someone with an eating disorder would] Not that I think Madelyn has an eating disorder.... yet. [I suspect that someone with an unhealthy relationship with food, talks a lot about food, oohs and ahhs over things on their plate, but moves the food around a lot, puts it down, picks it up, brings it to their mouth, possibly deciding at the very last minute, wait, I think I'm thirsty. Only to put the food back down and take a drink.] But what do I know? I certainly do NOT have an unhealthy relationship with food, if I see it, I eat it.

I guess what was rather Twilight Zone-ish about tonight, was Miss Maddy took food she wasn't familiar with [pitas] and made no comment what so ever about them. She then filled them with 2 foods she's not normally drawn to, romaine lettuce and tomatoes. She tried both of them within the pita AND a new sauce to boot... She took a few nibbles. She took a few licks. Did she eat it? Of course not. But this is a huge step for our household.

If we could get her to come to the table without a fuss. If I could get her to sit at her spot, without her blurting out "This smells disgusting". If I could get her to taste something she doesn't normally eat [even just licking something] every single meal... Our whole world would change...

This is one small step for Madelyn, and one giant leap for her Mother...

Keep your fingers crossed!