Food as toys

Lately, Johnny has needed a lot of attention and has wanted me to hold him for most of the late afternoon. This really makes getting dinner ready difficult [insert know-it-all reader comment here: "Wait until you have TWO babies!" I know, I've used this before, but I've been getting that comment a lot lately.]. Of course, while he's being so needy his usual toys can't hold his interest. So, I have to improvise to distract Johnny from my legs for a few minutes while I get dinner ready. You've already seen the spray bottle and the apple below worked well, too.

The problem with food as toys, however, is it often generates a lot of work for later. See, every time Johnny took a bite of the apple, instead of swallowing it, as most children or adults would do, he would spit that piece out.

Blech, apples.

Notice the apple pieces stuck in the collar of his shirt.

Apple bits strewn about the floor where they were stepped on and tracked through the kitchen.

Messy? Yes. Effective time filler? Yes. Worth the ordeal of picking up the pieces and mopping the floor? Perhaps, depending on how desperate I am to finish the task at hand.