Jack did not like eating some of these things, and always made mealtimes a misery. One day a visitor came for dinner and told Jack about his special club, the JOB Club and asked Jack if he wished to join. This sounded interesting! Yes, he would.
As a sign that Jack was going to become a full member, there was a little package in the visitor’s pocket that was for Jack—all for himself. Jack opened it very quickly and was surprised by what he saw. It was a special tiny spoon.
The visitor told Jack that, when something new came on the table that he had not seen before, he had to agree to have ‘Just One Bite’. Sure enough, there was something for dinner that Jack was sure he would not like. He pulled faces and whined and would not look at anyone, and began to go through his normal routine. The visitor said that, because he had agreed to join the JOB Club he must abide the rules. He would have to have just one spoonful - no more. The visitor told Jack to dip into the food with his new, and shiny and very tiny, special spoon and take one bite. Just as Jack was about to put the spoon in his mouth very reluctantly the visitor shouted ‘Stop! You’ve got too much on your spoon. You only have to have a very tiny mouthful.’ And Jack ate it.
He was not made to eat any more of that dish, but just the things that he wanted to eat. But he had had Just One Bite—he was a member of the JOB Club, you see. He ate the potatoes and the peas and some of his gravy. He quite liked this new visitor!
This continued for several months. He had Just One Bite with his special tiny spoon that he took with him. It became so, so much easier to take him out to friends as he would now try all new things - Just One Bite. He had joined a very special club of young people.
One day, quite unexpectedly, he asked for a second spoonful!
It is possible that we as adults too, have things that we do not fancy or like the look of, and maybe we need to join the JOB Club, and have Just One Bite! Changes are never easy until our taste buds and our eyes, too, adjust.
And even then there may be things that we just cannot take to. That is allowed. We cannot always explain why, it just seems to be part of our make-up. But maybe there should not be more than two things that we and the children are excused from. Mealtimes can then be a pleasure for the family, with no comments made, about what this one or that one will not eat. |
