Thursday, October 16, 2008

"Peanut Butter Sandwich, Open, Not Breaked"



For about the last two months anytime I ask Mara what she would like to eat her response is "Peanut butter sandwich, open, not breaked." All she wants these days is a peanut butter and honey sandwich, but not just any old sandwich will do. No, not for Mara.

There is an exact science to how this sandwich should be made. Skip ANY step, do ANYTHING out of order, adjust this process in ANY way, and you might as well just throw out the sandwich and start over. If you don't follow the exact steps, Mara will proceed to yell, scream, throw things, jump up and down, then run in the other room, hide in the corner, and cry. Eventually she will emerge and quietly eat the sandwich, but is it really worth all that? It's much easier to just follow the correct procedure.

The recipe for the perfect "peanut butter sandwich, open, not breaked":

1. Mara must be present to oversee that each step is performed properly.

2. She must retrieve all ingredients for the sandwich, except the slice of bread. That job has been assigned to me.

3. I put the peanut butter on the bread and Mara helps to spread it. Followed by licking the knife.

4. Then she helps me squeeze the honey onto the bread, every time saying,"lets make it crazy and go whoooooo." Meaning that she wants it poured on in a random pattern.

5. Then the sandwich is given to Mara, and she folds it ever so gently in half and then opens it again. This is to spread the honey across the surface evenly. This step must be done very carefully so the sandwich doesn't "breaked" when it is folded in half. If it is "breaked" all is lost, and the before mentioned screaming, etc. begins.

6. If all has gone smoothly to this point, the sandwich can then be placed on a plate and eaten.

She wants this sandwich for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and every snack in between. Of course I only let her have one or sometimes two each day, but it is difficult trying to come up with something she will willingly eat instead. What a girl!

3 comments:

Rarely David usually Lisa said...

Oh man. You are so lucky to have a child who loves those sandwiches. Mine throw fits when I pose that as an option. What a great (and protein-filled) snack/meal.

Lloyd said...

This is so interesting. She has definite likes and dislikes, doesn't she? Hope she isn't going to be a perfectionist. She is so cute though. We will take her anyway she is.

Jamie said...

Ha,Ha! I only laugh out of relief that my daughter isn't the only one like that :) Mia does almost the EXACT same thing if something isn't EXACTLY right or if I do something for her she wanted to do herself(which is EVERYTHING!) Must be a 3 year old thing (at least, I'm really counting on that!!!)