Prayer Under Pressure

Caleb has never been a very big eater. He particularly dislikes dinner cuisine (probably because it is catered to our tastes rather than his own). Over the past couple of years, we have tried many things to encourage him to eat more. Sometime around Thanksgiving, we hit the jackpot of motivators: filial competition. One day, the boys were eating dinner (Daddy was still at work) and I commented about how well Ethan was eating. Caleb just kept sitting there staring at his plate, swinging his legs, and waiting for Ethan and I to finish so he could ask to be excused. I looked at him sideways and said, "Caleb, you know, if Ethan keeps eating so much and you keep eating nothing, Ethan is going to get bigger than you." CHA-CHING. Caleb looked at me incredulously. Then he looked at Ethan with alarm. Then, miracle of miracles, he picked up his fork and started to eat. Since that day, you would not believe how many plates he has cleaned due to a simple repitition of this line of thought.

Just last night at the dinner table, Caleb was resisting participating in our prayer time. He wiggled and writhed and refused to fold his hands and bow his head, as he knows he is expected to do. After two false starts and reminders, we completed the prayer and temporarily ignored his disrespect. After the three of us raised our heads, I removed Caleb's plate from in front of him and told him that he could eat after he was ready to say his own prayer respectfully. He grinned impishly, and I realized that my punishment was going to fall flat, since he didn't like what we were having anyway. Daddy decided to add a little heat to my flickering fire, so he started commenting on how much Ethan was eating, and how big Ethan was going to get. He laid it on thick, saying "Mommy, did Ethan just grow a little bit? I thought I just saw him get taller? Did you see that?" The more he talked, the angrier Caleb looked. Finally, he closed his eyes and burst out in a loud and frustrated voice, "THANK YOU GOD FOR OUR FOOD IN JESUS NAME AMEN!" Then he grabbed his plate and started shoving food into his mouth. It was all Marcus and I could do not to choke on our food.