Slow it down

One of the biggest things that I have had to be mindful of this week with experimenting with solid foods is to eat sloowwly. It is very important to take small bites and chew, chew, chew. It can take you 1/2 hour to eat a couple of tablespoons of cottage cheese and 3 or 4 slices of banana. Which should make it really interesting when I go back to work in a week and a half and get a 35 minute lunch. Let's see - do I use the bathroom or check my mailbox? Oh, wait, at the start of first grade, half of your lunch is spent walking them all the way into the cafeteria, showing them how to carry their tray, dealing with the cryer who wants to go home (trust me, there's always at least one.) Then maybe having time to eat yourself. Whew, maybe I need to start eating while I'm walking my kids out.

Wow, and I was trying really hard to block that all out! Anyways, I learned the hard way when I ate a little bit of egg salad a little too fast. It felt like it was stuck and just was like a brick in my new tiny stomach - a very uncomfortable feeling. So - I am really taking this slow food thing seriously. The upside is that the slower you eat, the better things taste. You really notice how sweet and creamy those banana slices are. Cream of wheat is really good - very creamy, a little gritty. Yogurt has a sweet taste followed by that tangy aftertaste. Maybe adding a few new foods a week and eating them slowly will give me the gift of rediscovering how good some of them taste. What a gift!