Goodbye, Toys?

Lao Gong (Great-Grandfather) says, "If you play with your food, you don't need toys."

I think I'll have to get rid of all the toys.

Mama, I let the kids play with their food sometimes. It doesn't happen often--they don't have the inclination at most meals but when they do, I don't interrupt (unless we're running late to bedtime). Like a few nights ago. When we had stroganoff ("strong-on-off" Sis called it playfully, recognizing the juxtaposition) with egg noodles the other night, I let them party. Literally. Their tummies had a party. The noodles were the guests who danced around in the gravy. And then members of the turkey (it was ground turkey), mushroom, and onion families would go down into the party. Then the noodle people would go. It was all very lively, with discussions of the kind of music they were dancing to, as Sis and Bud wiggled in place.

Yeah, they were eating with their fingers. Yeah, they made a mess.

But, they didn't waste more than they usually would have. And I think they ate more.

Let's get the party started . . .