As soon as my twin baby girls were big enough to eat bite-sized food with their fingers, but before they could talk, they developed that peculiar toddler tendency of urgently thrusting food up to my mouth and offering to feed it to me. My refrains of, “No, you eat it,” and, “No thank you,” were starting to wear thin. I was in danger of feeling sorry for myself for continually having to rebuff their adorable, well-meaning efforts to share food with me and connect in that way.
One day God graced me with a solution that completely reframed the meaning of their gesture. Now, when they hold their food up to me with an expectant look, instead of assuming they’re saying, “Mommy, do you want to eat this?” I assume they’re saying, “Mommy, what’s this called?” I joyfully name that food. How do they respond? They pop it into their mouth and grab another piece and hold it up to hear what it’s called. It’s quite a scene: two little girls gleefully double-fisting food straight out into the air while I shout out food names. Passersby might think we’re a little batty, but hey, this is mother-daughter bonding, the FA way!