Or rather, whose???
Y'all, I just saw THE MOST AMAZING feat of deliberate and prolonged self-restraint and delayed gratification to ever be performed by a one year old. I can only conclude that this Clement is also destined for the papacy.
Sometimes, like less than once/day, I will give Clement one of Josephine's gummy-bear vitamins. It's mostly just as a little treat, because he gets all the vitamins he needs from his formula. For any of you who have not tried one of these, they taste better than any gumdrop, and it is well known amongst parents now that these vitamins have to be locked out of reach of children because they would happily eat an entire container in one sitting. I have read blogs wherein parents detail the temper tantrums thrown by their kids because they can only have 3 per day. Seriously.
Well, as any child of mine would, Clement has quickly learned which bottle contains these treasures, and he will start shrieking in excited demand any time he sees me reaching for it. He has not grown to expect one, but he does get his hopes up really high every time.
So today at lunch, I handed Josephine hers when she finished her food. Clement, being adamantly THRILLED at the appearance of the vitamin bottle, completely forgot about the food in front of him and started clamoring to be included in the distribution. I, being gracious and merciful and the mother of the next pope, put one on his plate next to all the unfinished meat and vegetables and o's.
He was delighted. All smiles and grateful gurgles.
And then he started eating the rest of his food.
Without touching the vitamin.
I was utterly confused, so I pointed it out, thinking maybe the fact that it was orange made it blend in too much with the carrot bits (even though it is larger and covered in granules of glistening SUGAR.)
He noticed and smiled at me and then started eating more food.
Baffled, I picked it UP, turned it over, thinking maybe the bear needed to be face up. I held it in front of his face, said "See, vitamin!" And put it back down.
He was totally overjoyed.
But continued to eat AROUND IT until his entire plate was polished clean.
I kid you not.
The boy then sat there, delighted with anticipation, moving his prized possession around on his plate. He showed it to Josephine. Showed it to me. Put it back on his plate, proudly.
Finally, FINALLY, he did this thing where he licked it, and then popped it in his mouth and ate it happily.
He is 15 months old. I am 397 months old and don't think I've EVER exhibited that kind of self-control in the face of sugar.
I am blown away... and have
no idea what this says about my future, mothering this child.
I mean, other than the likelihood of being canonized by proxy. That happens, right?
