Hot Spoon

"Be kinder than you need to be because everyone everyone you meet is fighting some kind of a battle."

As an adult and new mother I was puzzled that my mother would call me long distance (she lived in another state) and tell me that my baby was malnourished and that I needed to get her to the doctor. My baby was in the 90th percentile for height, weight and motor skills. I took her to every well baby appointment and she was a good eater.

When I related this puzzling conversation to my aunt ( on my dad's side) she paused as if she wanted to tell me something. Finally she told me of the time my mother had severely burnt my mouth with a hot spoon to the point she could not get me to eat. The pediatrician had told my mother I was malnourished and she needed to get some food in me. My aunt went on to say that my mother brought me to her and my older cousins would hold me down so that my aunt could force food into my mouth and make me eat. I do not know how many times this occurred before I started to eat again.

My father and mother both told me how as a toddler I would sit on a friend's lap (dad's army buddy) and eat raw onions with tears running down my cheeks. What a strange thing to feed a baby.