The other day, in a not-so-stellar Mommy Moment, I got fed up with Ladybug's refusal to ingest anything nutritious shy of chicken (in nugget form) or peanut butter (in sandwich form).  So, I forced her to take a bite of her dinner, punished her when she spit it out, then made her chew and swallow a bite.  I felt terrible, but I was at the end of my rope with her not even tasting anything new.
     The next night, I went back to my more traditional method of fixing her a dinner plate and leaving her to it while I ate my food.  To my surprise, after playing with her silverware for a while, Ladybug voluntarily put a bite of stuffing in her mouth!  She made an awful face and looked at me, but she swallowed it.  I was so ridiculously excited.  I did the silliest " Big Girl Took A Bite Of Her Dinner" song and dance.
     I guess the regular way of doing things seemed a more appealing test environment for her than the alternative:  a crazy lady shoving food down her throat!  So much for my Perfect Mommy score--  Oh, wait...  I wasn't even close to begin with...
    
CL