Monkey See. Monkey Do.

We all know that Sawyer thinks the world of his big brother Dawson. Lately, he has taken this adoration to whole new level. Instead of just following around after Dawson and mocking everything he does. Sawyer must now sit by Dawson at every meal and won't eat unless it's what Dawson is having.
I discovered this new development at lunch one day when I made Sawyer a corn dog and Dawson decided he just wanted a bowl of cereal.
I know, I know. You may be thinking to yourself. Why does she make different meals for her kids. I have always let them choose what they want for breakfast and lunch. And yes that does mean I  may be making 3 different types of sandwiches but, I really don't mind. At least I can hold over them; "you chose it. You eat it."
OK. back to the story. Once I put the bowl down in front of Dawson and Sawyer saw it he began to throw a fit. It took me awhile to figure out why he was screaming for no reason. I wondered if the corn dog was to hot. Or maybe he bit his tongue. It wasn't until he got his toosh off the chair, walked to the counter and pointed to the box of cereal I realized what he wanted.
I poured him a little bowl and he instantly sat back down, stopped crying and ate it. I thought to myself, "you little stink, guess you wanted cereal." And then the ever so reliable Dawson said, "I guess he didn't want a corn dog and he wanted cereal like me."
That made me think... like Dawson. Hmmm. He might be onto something.
The next morning having completely forgotten the previous afternoon fiasco, I made 2 different breakfast things. Dawson a waffle and Sawyer a bowl of cereal. I did the cereal again knowing he'd eat it cause he did yesterday. Well, this breakfast resulted in the same tears and refusal to eat. I looked at Sawyer and said, "do you want a waffle?"
A waffle was made and he finished it off. Dawson's statement came back to mind, "he wants what I'm having."
At lunch I didn't even question it. Dawson chose a corn dog, gold fish crackers, and yogurt. So I made 2 identical plates. Each boy sat there together eating every last bit of their lunches. No drama, no refusing, no tears. It was great. Over the past couple days I've played with my new discovery and sure enough, true to the line uttered, "he wants what I'm having." that's exactly what Sawyer gets. If Dawson wants it, Sawyer wants it too.
It's help with my meal prep because I only have to make 1 meal. I can even persuade Dawson to choose something that I want Sawyer to eat and in the end both are eating what I've chosen for them.
We'll see how long this new trend will last,but for now I'll ride this train while it's still on track. In the end, who knows I might even be able to get some new foods into Dawson by telling him, "Sawyer needs to eat this so I need you to show him it's good and because you're the awesome big brother he'll do what you do."
Does that sound too rehearsed? It probably does, cause yes, I've used that line before. And yes, It works!