Little Bites and Brad's Multitasking

Brad and Mac were sitting at the kitchen table yesterday. Brad was checking email or reading or something, while supervising Mac as he explored the wonders of play dough. I was nursing Arden--not watching, but within earshot--when I heard Brad's voice, "Oh, Mac! What?? Why'd you do that?"

I thought Mac must have mixed the play dough colors. Or eaten some. Or put it in his hair. You know, the things kids do when they play with play dough. But my 2 year old, I'm learning, rarely does what you think he might.

No...while Brad's attention was elsewhere, Mac abandoned the play dough and sampled one of the apples in a bowl at the center of the table. Apparently, that one wasn't to his liking, so he tried another. That one wouldn't do either, so he bit into a third. So there were three apples out of the bowl, each with a little Mac bite in it. Nice.

He did return to one of them, and after we washed it, he finished it.

I was mad that he wasted food (though we did put the unfinished ones in the fridge to work on another day), but you can't punish a child this young for childishness. He didn't know any better. It wasn't a rebellious or defiant thing. He was just looking for the right apple. I suppose he does know not to eat food without asking--but then again, it was sitting right in front of him.

Today, when I got out several apples to prepare a recipe for Thanksgiving, I found another Mac-sized bite on one of the apples. Sneaky little boy...