Gag Order

Lily has had some problems with eating over the past few months. She has developed a knack for gagging and vomiting her food when she doesn't like what she's eating. Last night we had leftover pork chops for dinner and she didn't really want to eat hers. She was on the last bite, but we could tell she got the gleam in her eye that told us she was getting ready to toss her chops. We warned her that if she gagged or spit out her food she would have to go right to bed. Despite our warnings she did spit a bunch out. It wasn't a full-fledged vomit, but it was still gross.

Lily ended up going to bed around 6:00 last night instead of her usual 7:30-8:00. We read the two sections out of her "Bible" and then knelt down to pray. First, through tears she asked me to say what I was thankful for before she said anything. Then when we got to "Lily, what do you want to tell God you're sorry for?" she started to break down. Her bottom lip curled as she cried and said, "For gagging on my food." I said her prayers for her and put her to bed.

We ended up having to do two spankings before I got downstairs. For some reason this week she has started getting up in the middle of the night and opening her door a crack. I was going to start trying to work on that, but last night I made a concession that she could do it "after mommy and daddy go to bed." Somehow it eventually "clicked" with her and she went to sleep around 6:30. She actually slept until 7:00 this morning.

Going through this was not very much fun. However, we know that in the end she will benefit from our consistency.