I'm a mom and like all mom's that means that I do The Hard Things. All of the mom's do. We do things every day that we really don't want to do. Of course, everyone does but lets be honest, moms have a lot more of those things than the rest of the developed worlds population. It's a part of the gig- we just do The Hard Things, every single day.
I did a different kind of Hard Things before I started a family. I ran marathons, traveled to dangerous places, graduated with a Masters in just over a year. I survived violence, trauma and loss. I built a happy marriage with no role modeling and felt the heartbreak of walking away from toxic loved ones.
The Hard Things are what build our world or burn it down. That part is up to us.
Now, it is essential to this story to know that I eat (pretty much) everything and I abhor picky eating. With the obvious exceptions of bugs, brains and tongues, I'm pretty flexible with food. Sure, there are plenty of foods I don't love but I have to just deal with that and I carry on like a big girl. Because I want to avoid that disordered type of eating creeping into my children, I'm in the You Get What You Get camp. Let's take control issues out of this and sit down and eat, okay? It's just dinner.
Except mushrooms. That rubbery texture makes me gag. I love their earthy flavor, especially in a sauce, but as soon as I make eye contact with one, I shove it aside. I never eat a mushroom that has not been minced into oblivion.
N has been struggling with eating scrambled or boiled eggs. She never ate an egg before her trial graduation day. She was diagnosed when she was an infant and was getting the allergens via my milk. Eggs are new and weird (when not a part of a cupcake!). We have to feed her the equivalent of 1/3 of an egg (can't be baked) and 8 almonds daily to maintain her "immunity." With this in her daily diet, she is free to eat anything and everything else safely. Rockstar Husband has applied his profound creativity and problem solving to a handful of very eggy- pancake, waffle, crepe, french toast and latke recipes so we can avoid the scrambling and boiling.
When we are in a rush or on the road, she needs to just be able to eat a scrambled or hard boiled egg. When we go this route, it's high drama. There are tears and then pep talks then tears and then pep talks but eventually tempers flare and we all walk away feeling bruised and defeated.
Ugh.
But you see, I completely misunderstood. I thought it was drama. I thought her little frontal lobe wasn't getting stimulated enough without her food -allergies-attention, so she was making eggs into a thing. She wanted more control.
She's not though, eggs are a real thing for her. This isn't a thinly veiled control issue.
How did I finally realize this? Well, I told her that she needed to eat a scrambled egg once a week to get herself used to it. I try to never ask my girls to do something I won't do so I said that I would eat a mushroom once a week in solidarity. She was quite pleased with this turn of events and agreed. I gagged at the thought but figured it was time to get over the whole mushroom thing anyway. For the past few days I visualized myself eating a mushroom and NOT gagging but pleasantly chatting as I dealt with not loving my mushroom.
I do The Hard Things everyday. Surely, a mushroom wasn't even going to qualify as a Hard Thing. I could finally kill this drama and teach her how to get through an egg.
That wasn't how it went though. I spent the whole night recovering from one mushroom (and no, not THAT kind of mushroom!). I barely got a few bites down before I started gagging. I eventually powered through with the help of some Pad Thai noodles mixed in but I was green and ill. I was also completely and totally humbled.
I felt horrible. I deeply misunderstood her. My poor little girl has not been looking for attention with her eggs. This wasn't a show. I didn't realize how hard this part is. I didn't see what she was dealing with. Mind over matter? Not in the face of a mushroom apparently. So much for my ability to do The Hard Things. I was on my knees at the foot of a mushroom, begging for mercy.
I looked her in the eye and told her how sorry I was. I told her that I understood now and it would be different. There were a few tears from us both. She was finally validated and didn't feel so alone in her struggle. She must have felt pretty alone staring down that scrambled egg until her Mom came off that high horse and bowed to the mushroom.
Apparently The Hard Things can be bite sized too. Fortunately for us both, we get to go through it together. One mushroom and one egg at a time.
Gulp.