A tale of 2 kids: voluntary and involuntary eating

My little brother had not eaten voluntarily in over three years.

This is one of my more memorable quotes by Ralphie from the movie classic A Christmas Story.

Now that I have kids of my own, it is interesting how things like this from the past are brought to mind with a whole new perspective. Ralphie says in the same scene something like, "Every family has one kid that won't eat" which in his case was his brother.

We always struggled with A. to get her to take formula (she had problems with acid reflux), and once she started table food, she never had a big appetite. Her appetite is now improved to the point of sustaining her bird legs, but eating has just always seemed to be an optional activity for her. On windy days we just fill her pockets with heavy objects to make sure we don't lose her in a sudden gust.

We have learned a variety of tricks and techniques to get A. to eat, but they don't work consistently. Quite often the best thing to do is to just let her be, and she'll eat when she wants. She's the daintiest little eater. She'll sit down and just nibble as if she were required to be all prim and proper. She'll wipe her mouth, get down from the table, and no one can tell that she just ate. Messy is not her style.

Enter E., her younger sister by 19 months, who has just turned 1. E. does not hide her love affair with food even though she too battled acid reflux. If she sees you even moving toward the refrigerator, she wants milk. If she has a pile of food in front of her, she wants what's on your plate too. She gets food on her, on the floor, and everywhere in between. She's happiest when she can shovel it in non-stop. There's no having to convince her that she's "Mommy's little piggy" as Ralphie's mom attempted with his little brother, the non-eater. While A. has always been rather oblivious to food prep in the kitchen, E. can spot something on the counter from a mile away. She'll point and grunt and reach for it as if it's the last morsel of food on earth. Quite amusing.

It's amazing how two little people can be so similar, yet so different, at such a young age. I'm sure this is just the beginning of endless comparisons and contrasts.

Fun.