Manners

On the whole my children are fairly well behaved. They say please and than you, they share with other children and we can even go out to dinner as a family. Mind you there are moments when they act like a bunch of crazed monkeys and I prefer not to shop with all four in tow. Three quarters of them even have tolerable table manners. They sometimes have an inability to stay seated at the table, but they do behave in public.

Then there is Rebecca.


Who needs spoons?

Her table manners are nonexistent. She crams food into mouth until it is over flowing. Utensils are viewed as optional. And she has one particularly vile habit. She will wander about with a chunk of food in her mouth for seemingly hours. She sucks all the flavor and color out of it until she spits out a small gray ball of paste. Half the time I can not even guess what it was. At bedtime I often have to tell her to swallow whatever is in her month before I can brush her teeth. There are days that I am convinced that she is a frat boy. She particularly reminds me of the scene when Bluto is moving down the cafeteria line stuffing as much food as possible onto his tray and into his mouth. She hasn’t started a food fight yet, and I will not be surprised when she does. If you don’t believe me, go ask Meryl. Meanwhile, I think Max, her twin brother, has the best table manners of the lot. So it is NOT an age thing.

The funniest part of the whole situation is that she is otherwise a very girly girl. She loves to wear pink dresses with pretty shoes. She is so cute and charming while she shoves yet another fistful of food into her mouth.