The Short Bite

Websters defines Parenting as; the rearing of a child or children,especially the care, love and guidance given by a parent.

It defines Patient as; bearing or enduring pain, difficulty or provocation and annoyance with calmness.

There are several things that you are not told about when you under take the role of a parent. I believe that there exist tidbits of knowledge which are painstakingly learned and therefore are kept to ones self for just that reason. Why tell the poor fool all the tricks when he/she can learn them the hard way like the rest of us.

One of these precious bits of information surrounds the short bite.

The short bite is not a widely used tool by the child however it is most effective when determining the existence and depth of the Parents ability to be patient. ( see above)

The short bite is used primarily by the child from ages two through age 5.
I have no on hand knowledge as to the existence of the short bite after 5 as all of my children afflicted by this are still under 6.

The use of the short bite begins rather cleverly....
1) The child will eat quite a significant amount of their meal,to the point where you think, alright they are going to actually finish their plate this time, I rock.
2) The parent them becomes a little full of themselves, internally claiming victory for this meal and thus falsely thinking how great they are in this endless battle of moving food from the plate, to the belly of the child. This false sense of security allows the parent the freedom of mind to state " a couple more bites and you will be done"....
3) You proudly scoop up a large quantity of food and prepare to feed the child. The food source usually is something that will create the biggest mess such as , rice, cereal,soup,yogurt,etc.
4) The child reciprocates by actually opening their mouth allowing you to assume they are ready for the next bite.
5) Then as you approach the child's mouth with the serving you look away briefly to see how many more bites are left on the plate and then as the tip of the spoon passes the child's lips,CLAMP down comes the short bite.
6) Your forward motion abruptly stops,foods flies everywhere and so does your temper.
7) The child looks calmly at you and proceeds to chew the small amount of food they have taken giving you the look of ,what I took a bite...

Repeat .... This will continue until you finally admit that you never will be in control of this battle only given small temporary false assurances of success.

Websters does not have a definition of the short bite