A Surprising Dinner with Mal

Every Friday (mostly), Mal meets some friends at Urban Air for a couple of hours of trampoline jumping and playground fun. 

James and I had planned to meet for dinner afterwards last night, our first family dinner out since before the pandemic. I had told Mal we were going to do this, at a restaurant James and I had selected, and that I knew they probably wouldn't have any food he'd like, but he could just hang out and drink soda.

When I mentioned this to my friend, she offered to take Mal home with her so our kids could play together and James and I could have a date night. I asked Mal, and he preferred to go with us. First surprise.

After he'd played a couple of hours, we went to the restaurant, where James was waiting. Second surprise: Mal ordered food. Chicken tenders and fruit.

The plate came, and a very hungry Mal was extremely happy about the fruit.

He ate some strawberries and grapes, then picked up a little piece of cantaloupe. "What is this?" he asked. I said, "It's a melon, like watermelon, but it's called 'cantaloupe.'" (Yes, we've had it at home before and, no, he's never tried it.)

Mal stuck his tongue out and touched it to the cantaloupe. I guess it passed the tongue test, because Mal popped it into his mouth and rolled his eyes in ecstasy. He then ate more of the cantaloupe. MAJOR third surprise. Major. He actually ADDED a food to his palate instead of removing a food from it. I honestly could have cried (if you have one of these eaters, you get it; I didn't before... it's a lot).

THEN, Mal pulled off the tip of one of the chicken tenders. I said, "That's just coating. You should eat some chicken." But he ate the fried batter, then reacted. "It's hot!" and drank some water.

Normally, that would have been the death sentence for the chicken making further encroachment onto Malcolm's taste buds. But this time, he pulled out his knife, cut off a slice of chicken, and ate it. Water. Again. And again.

Eventually, he'd eaten everything but a few grapes! And he didn't even have ketchup until the last tender.

Sometimes in parenting, we have to really celebrate what might seem like small milestones. This was a HUGE deal to us. I'm proud of Mal for trying new food and for keeping with something that normally would have put him right off! Maybe there's hope for him to expand what he'll eat over time, after all!