The Selective Hearing of a Drama Queen
Today, after asking for a "snack" at lunch time, my daughter asked for Cous Cous, she loves Cous Cous and has it most days, along with a Peanut Butter sandwich. However, as she had filled up on snacks, she barely ate any. I asked her several times if she wanted any more, but she didn't answer, she was lost in the land of television or it was a case of selective hearing, so, after telling her I would put the Cous Cous in the fridge, and still receiving no response, I went into the kitchen to empty her bowl. She then came tearing in like a tornado shouting, "Where's my Cous Cous? Where's my Cous Cous?" When she saw it had been emptied, she then started shouting, "No, my Cous Cous!" I asked her if she wanted some more, where upon she answered, "No thank you," and vacated the kitchen. I could not believe the complete turnaround in mood following the hysterics I had just witnessed. This scene was Oscar worthy! Surely, she has a career in theatre in the future? Hopefully, before the neighbours called Childline to report her starvation, they heard her say she did not want anymore...
This behaviour first appeared one dinner time several months ago. We cleared the table after we had all finished eating and emptied the leftovers into the food bin. It was at that precise moment in time, that our daughter re-entered the kitchen, looked at the table and began shouting, “Where’s my dinner? Where’s my dinner? No! My dinner?” She was inconsolable whilst crying on the floor. We felt like the worst parents in the history of time. Eventually this passed when pudding was mentioned. Now, we always check whether she has finished eating or not before we empty her plate. However, this is not always successful as her selective hearing is sometimes in play, if the topic of conversation is unimportant, she tends not to answer. For example, if she is full up and you ask her if she would like some pudding, she does not answer, even if your sentence contains the word “chocolate” in it, perhaps she feels there is no need to answer? For the times she hasn’t listened, there is a repeat performance of the “Where’s my dinner?” scene. It is just as dramatic as the first viewing. She hasn't touched her food for over 20 minutes, but suddenly, she decides that she must eat her dinner! That she is starving! She likes to potter about and then come back to her dinner and eat some more; she likes to pick, to graze. Sometimes, she even eats her dinner with her pudding, when the dinner has not been allowed to go into the food bin! Olives and ice-cream must be the grossest dinner pudding combination she has ever eaten, even though I love both, individually.
She eats a fair amount each day, so this desire to not have her food in the food bin, does not come from hunger. She is just perhaps living up to her nicknames “Monkey” and “Pickle” or maybe she is just practising for her future theatrical roles? Or maybe she was an actor in a past life? Do any of you have similar stories? If so, please share them at the bottom of this post or on the Facebook or Insta page @ theveganmummadiaries, so we can learn, share and connect. Even better, if you have any tips on how to beat selective hearing, please help us.