Thank You, May I Have Another?

I recall a day about thirty-five years ago when my father and mother placed a bowl of peas in front of me. My reaction to peas was almost sub-human. I could not eat them, I would not eat them, not on a boat, not with a goat - you get the idea.

Guess what?

"You aren't moving until they're all gone," my father announced.

So, there I sat, torturing myself by trying to eat one pea at a time, holding my nose closed tight as I did so. I think I was even busted for trying to hide a few under my plate. They smash easily enough, but they are also simply discovered.

My mother was solidly in my father's corner on this one too, so I had little help there. The minutes ticked away. The peas got cold which made them even more tempting. My siblings were running free, popping back in the room every now and then to see how I was making out with my stand against the establishment.

Pea after miserable pea, I worked my spoon. Finally, growing frustrated with the idea of sitting there until morning, I started shoveling them in. My father was across the table watching and I remember the sound of his laughter. I ate every last pea in the bowl and pushed it back from me, the taste in my mouth threatening to make me show my cookies.

"How were they?"
"Fantastic!" I yelled.
"Good, have some more," my father said. He put a couple of scoops into the bowl, but my mother intervened and I was set free.

I bring this all up because my children all have very specific tastes that have little to do with vegetables. I try to get them to try different things, but they resist. Remembering the great pea experiment, I don't subject them to such torture. Yet I also want them to know that there are going to be things in life that are hard to digest and that wishing those things away won't work.

I was always proud that I finished those peas. In the long term that one bowl of peas probably did not make me a better person, but guess what? To this day, I always finish everything on my plate (which isn't always such a brilliant notion), and day after day I have learned to understand that even if things aren't exactly as they are supposed to be, with a little time and effort they can be changed, or shoveled in and swallowed.

To top it off, as I write this, one of my favorite all-time dishes is - drum roll please - macaroni and peas.