Not so long ago we made Jude eat a piece of broccoli. This was one teeny, tiny piece of broccoli, like the size of a dime. This one little piece of broccoli was all that stood between his chubby little hands and an Otter Pop. All he had to do was swallow.

In the mouth it goes, and the crying begins.

We sat with him while he chewed the vile weed, over and over. He pleaded, he kicked, he yelled, he reached for a napkin and leaned over his plate in an attempt to spit out the broccoli. We wouldn’t let him.

He gagged dramatically and put on a four star performance. There was no doubt in our minds: Jude does not like broccoli! Nonetheless, we persevered and encouraged Jude for 15 minutes while he fought that awful, stubborn floret of horrible broccoli!

Finally, we got up from the table and left Jude alone while we cleaned the kitchen up, leaving him to swirl the broccoli soup around in his mouth while we watched from a distance. We took all of the napkins and dinnerware with us so there would be no hiding places at the table. He hollered, then suddenly stopped.

Lo and behold! The broccoli went down and Jude did not even get one bit sick! The happy boy went on about his evening, his dreams of an Otter Pop now realized.


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