Attack of the Beans

Tonight was the first time our family of seven ate dinner together in several weeks. For some reason, our family dinners start out quite nicely and then it all goes to H*E double toothpicks in a matter of minutes. Tonight's dinner did not disappoint.

And the source of tonight's downfall?

Baked Beans. Go figure.

We had pulled pork sandwiches, waffle fries and baked beans for dinner. Julia, true to form, announced that she hated baked beans and didn't want any. Trace and Ross, true to form, pulled out the "when we were little we had to eat things we didn't like or we couldn't leave the table." Admittedly, I've become a softy over time, but Julia's limited palate has become ridiculous so I decided she must eat some of the nasty baked beans. And the wailing began.

Now you must understand that Julia is ever so the drama queen. Jenna didn't really want any beans either but when told she had to eat some, she did so with little complaint. Not Julia. Crying, begging, she pulled out all the guns. But so did the boys.

Trace decided that Julia needed to be fed the beans. As you can imagine-- and see, this didn't go over so well. (As you can also see, we solved the six chair situation by bringing in a dining room chair.)

The battle continued for some time. Julia eating about 3 beans at a time out of her approximately 20 beans. And there were long whining spells in between. But no worries.

The younger children were greatly amused. Emma's thinking, "That Julia is silly!"

Ryan's eating his second helping of beans thinking "I don't know what all the fuss is about but I love a dinner and a show! Especially when it's funny!"

Somewhere around the end of Julia's 3 bean torture session she was making gagging noises as she ate. This must have triggered some type of gag reflex in poor little Jenna who was sitting by her. The next thing we know, Jenna ran off into the bathroom. Julia ran after her thinking that Jenna was really spitting her beans in the toilet (and perhaps to add her own too) but called out the words every mother loves to hear.

"Jenna just threw up!"

That's one way to get out of eating your beans.

Jenna spent the rest of dinner on my lap while Julia ate the rest of her beans quietly. I think Julia was kicking herself for not thinking of it first.

************************************************

If you live in the Kansas City area be sure to head over to my review blog for a chance to win 4 tickets to Disney on Ice! The winner will be picked after 10:00 pm on Monday, March 23.