Pork Chop Saga Continued

I know that there are tons of your sitting on the edge of your seats (hahaha) waiting to hear what happened with Andrew finishing his dinner. I honestly wish this wasn't my story to share b/c I don't like how it ended. I'm honestly crushed by the ending, and I don't want any of you to hear the story and think bad things about Andrew. However, as parents, I'm sure we all have struggles like this so here goes...

Andrew finally made the choice to sit and finish his food by supper time. Lizzy and I were enjoying spinach filled omelets (nope - not the best thing for my high cholesterol but yummy none the less) while Andrew was washing each bite down with a huge swig of water...at 7pm. It was taking a very long time, but he was eating it. By 8, he had lost momentum, and by 8:15, I decided to throw in that we would all go get ice cream at the Twisty Treat when Andrew was done with his food...and he was 5 bites away. Mat got home, ate, and we were about to leave for ice cream when I shoved the last 2 bites in Andrew's mouth.

Andrew ran down the hall to put his shoes on, and while he was down there, he decided to spit the last 2 bites into the toilet and flush away the evidence. I went down the hall to hear the toilet running and to see a little boy sitting on the pot...with no food in his mouth. I asked if he spit his food in the toilet. He said no. I asked him to tell the truth. He said no. I asked why the toilet was making that sound if he didn't already flush his food down it. He said he was giving a courtesy flush (which is brilliant for a 5 year old to say I might add), and then...I asked him to be honest with me. I told him that I knew he flushed his food, and I'd still take him to get Twisty Treat if he would just tell me the truth. He then told me that he lied. He really did flush the food down the toilet.

Ugh. I was heartbroken. I understand why he lied. I just wish he hadn't. Man did my heart hurt...and at this point so did my very upset tummy. Fortunately, Mat had the brilliant idea to reheat more and make him eat it...after Andrew spent a very long time in his room thinking that he was going to get a "consequence" to his tush. He was excited to hear that the consequence was only to eat more pork (blew me away). He sat at the table for 30 more minutes, and he finally finished every single bit without spitting it out.

We talked about lying. We talked about always telling the truth no matter the situation. We shared some sweet times (as I was near death with an upset tummy at this point and completely freaking out that I had a kidney stone - which I don't, praise Jesus!) I think that we did the right thing by driving home the food AND lying issue. As bad as it hurt my heart, I'm kinda glad it happened that way, and I'm more glad that it's over today.

It's tough being a parent. It's tougher being a parent to a strong willed boy. I think many of my friends don't understand that. It sometimes seems like I'm the only one struggling with these strong willed very energetic boy things. I've learned through this experience that there are many other moms struggling to do the right thing as parents to mold these precious babies into strong men. I think all the hard work will pay off n the long run. They will make exceptional men one day! While it's tough now, I LOVE my job being a mom - especially Andrew & Elizabeth's mom!

Thanks to all the mom's out there that have encouraged me! I appreciate your prayers and support along the way.