I Give Up!

Now, who doesn’t like a ‘Full English’ for Sunday brunch? Or if in Ireland, a ‘Full Irish’? Okay, Thor isn’t an easy eater. Out of all five children, when it comes to food, he is definitely the most difficult. The last weeks, I’ve just kind of given up! I’m tired of mealtimes with the children. Thor is a constant thorn in my side. I know before I even shout out ‘dinnertime’, there will be problems ahead. Thor has taken to nibbling the crusts of a sandwich as slowly as humanly possible before teasingly the actual heart / filling of the sandwich!

It’s every mealtime though. Today’s brunch was no different. He found fault with the tomatoes, the mushrooms, even the fried potatoes! Now, none of them bar Tara used to like mushrooms. But if you insist at every mealtime when mushrooms are present they at least try one or two, in the end, they get to like the flavour and texture. Caleb now loves them, Aaliyah is certainly on the cusp, even Amritsar will eat a few. Today’s mushrooms were extra special! I used dehydrated and soaked them in water for 30 minutes. The end result is really meaty, not slimy affair, an intensity flavoursome fungi.

Okay, everyone loves brunch don’t they? However, Thor ended up being sent to bed. I give up I exclaimed! He came back down within the hour, made us empty apologies and that was that!

You might have noticed in the first picture that Aaliyah had her pink plastic plate as she smashed her china plate a couple of weeks ago. Caleb has just done the same. Granny’s dinner service diminishes yet more. He will enjoy his plastic mini mouse plate with next week’s lunchtime offering!

Dinnertime now approaches and I am very nervous…

I have to hand you a memory at this point! My own childhood and my recollection of Sunday dinnertime. Now, my mother wasn’t the greatest in the kitchen! I think that is why I qualified as a chef at the tender age of 19 years old (C &G 706 1 / 2). ‘Man cannot live by bread alone’ was my mantra – there will always be a job in the catering industry I thought! Excuse the slightly sexist connotation please! This was before the evolution of the ‘Celebrity Chef’ mind you. Anyhow, back to my childhood Sunday dinnertime. Beans on toast, an egg omelette sandwich, tinned pilchards on toast – you get the picture!

So the children’s dinner tonight! A moist sourdough bread sandwich with two hour broiled pork leg, well seasoned, moist and succulent, with Helmanns mayonnaise. This was accompanied by cheesy quavers, an apple and a chocolate cake bar. Enough said. A sandwich that he would otherwise enjoy, but today, Thor nibbled, complained, nibbled some more and by in large, he refused to eat his food yet again.

No up to bed on this occasion as we are preparing for bath time. But believe me – I do grow tired of Thor’s eating habits. Of course, a lot of it is for show – he needs a forum to enact himself! Maybe in the long run – these testing moments will show a positive outcome in his ability to express himself. He is a funny boy most of the time – I guess he is just looking to fulfil himself within the spectrum of his audience.

It’s not easy at times. But I still love him to bits!