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Lisa argued with her mum about
everything. If she told Lisa they were having peas for dinner, she’d say
she wanted brussel sprouts. If she said they were going out for pizza,
Lisa wanted to have fish and chips. There seemed to be no pleasing her.
One morning, after an hour of
arguing, Lisa said, "Mum, you never let me choose or make decisions. You
always decide what we are having to eat or where we are going to go."
Her mum, out of frustration with her
six-year-old daughter, decided that for one day, she’d let Lisa make all
her own decisions. She knew that Lisa would have a hard time and wouldn’t
last long. When the sun rose the next morning, her mum called, "Lisa, what
would you like to have for breakfast this morning?"
"I don’t know," Lisa answered.
"It’s your decision, remember? It’s
your choice."
A mischievous grin spread across
Lisa’s face. "Anything I want? Hmmm," she said and went into the kitchen.
"Well, if I can pick, I’d like bacon, sausage, eggs, fried tomatoes, toast
and chocolate milk."
Her mum’s eyes widened. "Lisa, I’ll
fix you whatever you want, but the deal is that you have to eat whatever
you ask for. We can’t afford to waste food. Agreed?"
"Okay!" Lisa giggled.
Her mum fried up the bacon and
sausages and put them on paper towels to drain the grease off. She cut the
tomato into quarters and dropped them into the pan. She cracked two
brown-shelled eggs and dropped them in next to the tomato. While those
were sizzling, she made the toast and poured a glass of chocolate milk.
She put the plate down in front of Lisa. "There you go. Eat it up!"
Lisa liked this. She gobbled down
the bacon and sausages and then the toast, but by the time she finished
her first egg and tomato, she was full. Her mum sat quietly reading the
newspaper. Lisa remembered her mum’s words about eating everything she
asked for. She didn’t want to go back to the way it was, so she forced
herself to eat all the food and drink every last drop of chocolate milk.
She get dressed and walked to
school. Her tummy hurt and she didn’t eat much of her school lunch, but by
the time she was ready to go home, she was back to normal. She walked home
thinking about what she wanted to have for tea that night. After she’d
finished doing her homework, she went into the living room. Her mum was
knitting a heather-purple cardigan. "Mum, I’ve decided what I want to have
for tea tonight. I’d like steak and kidney pie, peas, bread and butter and
chocolate cake with thick, buttery icing."
"That’s a lot of food for one six
year old girl to eat. Are you sure?" her mum questioned.
"Yes, Mum. I’ve made my decision,"
Lisa responded.
"All right. I’ll start fixing your
tea soon."
Lisa went out to play while her mum
fixed tea. As she chopped the carrots and onions, she started smiling,
knowing it wouldn’t be much longer before Lisa learned her lesson. "Lisa,
it’s tea time," she called.
When she walked into the kitchen and
saw all the food, Lisa’s mouth began to water. She was feeling very
hungry, as she’d only nibbled on lunch. "It looks delicious, Mum." She put
a big piece of steak and kidney pie on her plate, scooped a huge spoonful
of peas, and buttered a thick slab of bread. She cut the chocolate cake
and put it in a bowl and then licked the icing off the knife.
"That’s an awful lot of food," her
mum said.
"I’ll eat it all. It’s my decision,"
she said, haughtily.
Mum ate her much smaller portions
and read a magazine, sneaking glances at Lisa now and then. Lisa had no
problem devouring the pie, peas and bread and butter, but when she started
eating the chocolate cake with thick, buttery icing, she felt very full.
Her hand lifted the bites of cake slowly to her mouth. She chewed much
slower. She didn’t think she could eat another bite, but forced herself.
That night she had a tummy ache. She was up all night crying and felt very
sick.
The next morning she went to her
mum, who was sitting at the table sipping her coffee. "Mum, I don’t want
to make all the choices any more. I want you to pick what we’ll have for
tea," she sobbed, hugging her mum.
Satisfied that Lisa had learned her
lesson, her mum replied, "I’ll tell you what; you can pick what to eat
once a week, but let’s not have too much at once, all right?"
"Thanks, Mum. Now, what are we
having for breakfast?" Lisa giggled.
"How about yogurt, toast and a
banana?"
"That sounds good, Mum."
From then on, Lisa didn’t argue with
her mother as much and her mum let her make more decisions. They were both
much happier this way. |
