I was in the kitchen scrubbing dishes when I realized that the sponge-on-plate sound was the only noise I heard.
If there is one truth in parenting, it is this: Silence means your child is up to no good.
I shed the yellow dish gloves and peeked my head around to the living room, where Peeper had been playing. There she was, playing all right, but not with her stacking cups or beach ball.
Somewhere she had found a Ziplock of dog food. She had managed to open it and spill it on the ground. And, of course, she was shoving handfuls of it into her mouth.
I sprinted over, pulling pieces of kibble out of her mouth. But as quickly as I was taking it out, she was putting more in.
I used my arms to shovel the pile away from her, repeating “No! No!” and laughing at the same time.
I have no idea how much dog food she ate—probably only a piece or two. I shouldn’t be surprised, as kibble is related to the things Peeper most loves—Finn, shiny dog bowls and finger food.
I could be embarrassed and horrified that my baby managed to chow through who knows how much dog food while I wasn’t watching. But a story like this is just too hilarious for guilt.
And when I reenacted the moment at a mom’s night out recently, none of the other mamas wagged a finger, admonishing me about dangerous fillers and preservatives in dog food. No, they all laughed.
Motherhood can be hard. It’s almost always exhausting. It can be mind-numbingly repetitive. But sometimes, it’s also bust-your-gut, retell-it-millions-of-times funny.
Have you ever gotten into pet chow or another off-limits food?
A friend of mine shared that her daughter sampled a deposit made in the kitty litter box. Can’t watch ’em every nano second at this stage. They move at the speed of light it seems.
Ahahaha! That’s too much. I figure it makes ’em more resilient. Right?
HA, your kid is eating dogfood and I’m feeding my dog babyfood! what on earth is going on in this world? Full moon maybe.
Hahaha! Well our dog’s monthly food bill is in the hundreds of dollars, so my daughter is probably eating really well from his dog bowl. What we do for our canines!
Haha! My oldest child totally did the same thing when she was little! I mean, they do look like toddler snacks, right? 😉
There are far worse things for kids to eat than dog food, right? haha They definitely keep us on our toes!
Lol!! This sounds all too familiar… My babe never drools but give him a cat or dog food pebble and the saliva just runs!!
I don’t recall ever having gotten into pet chow, but I do recall Li’l D doing so. Laughter was my response, too! 🙂
Funny!! I’ve heard of children whose favorite food is liver, and it’s so cool that their little bodies know how to seek nutrients when they’re not worried about social perspectives of what’s “gross.” So, maybe she was just looking for something savory and meaty!! =)