A few nights ago, our family went to a Teppanyaki restaurant for dinner. We thought that Justin would love watching the chef cook the food in front of him…and he did! However, he refused to eat any of the mushrooms. Last night, we had another dish for dinner that included mushrooms. Once again, Justin declared that he did not like mushrooms and never wanted to eat them again. I asked him a few times to try them, but he proceeded to tell me that they were “yucky.”

While thinking of ways to get him to eat the mushrooms, a little angel appeared on my left shoulder and a little devil appeared on my right shoulder. The little angel whispered into my ear, “Tell him that they are delicious. Tell him they are rich in copper, potassium, and are believed to fight cancer. Let him know that they are good for him.”

The devil on my shoulder waited for the angel to finish, all the while just standing there with a smirk on his face. He then cleared his throat and said, “I agree with the angel. You should encourage your son to eat mushrooms.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Sure,” he replied.

And then my dark passenger continued – “I know how much you like mushrooms. Maybe you can tell your son about that one time in college when your Turkish friend Yasemin asked you to take some “special” mushrooms with her! Go ahead and tell your five year old that if he eats his mushrooms just like Daddy – he can see strange colors, enjoy music he never liked before, and end up in the park playing Badminton with Gandhi, Curly from The Three Stooges, and a talking pinecone.”

I flicked the devil off my shoulder, told Justin he didn’t have to eat his mushrooms, and then I pushed my mushrooms to the side as well. For the rest of the meal, I sat in silence while pondering the other life experiences I didn’t want to pass along to my children.

Stupid mushrooms!!