Feeling defeated

Theo got the best of me today. He refused to nap this afternoon even though he desperately needed it. We struggled with each other, he cried, I dug deep and finally I got him in the stroller and we went to the grocery store. On the way home, he fell asleep - two hours before his bedtime. He woke up after 30 minutes in a terrible mood. He was absolutely inconsolable for a good 15 minutes but I finally found a winning combination of a pacifier, a cracker in each hand, some milk nearby and Animal Planet. TV is always my last resort and tonight I shoved my guilt aside and decided that whatever works, works.

Just as I thought we might make it through to the end of the day without any more battles, we faced dinner. He just won't eat anything these days. He won't try anything new and he is apparently bored of all the things he does like, with the exception of cheese and crackers. Roast beef? No. Fish shaped frozen fish sticks? No. Spinach and potato pancakes? No. Jar of baby food I keep around as back up - a few bites but then, no. Crackers with goat cheese. Yes. And the "no" isn't a polite, "no thank you, Mummy". It's grab it off the tray and hurl it on the floor. After picking up several things he had thrown I actually threw a piece of spinach potato pancake back at him. He, of course, thought that was hilarious which was a good thing because I was so mad I just kept throwing it at him and he just kept giggling.

Finally, I gave up. I cleaned him up, put him in his jammies and put him to bed where he seemed quite happy to go by that time. Finally, one thing today I got him to do without a struggle.