Monday 20 January 2014

"I'm Eating With Us!!"
#Operation IFO

Videotape teaching (or microteaching as it is also known) is not new. In the past we tried using it with Riley on a few occasions; G has had his golf swing taped; and I found it helpful when G taped one of my first dragon boat races.

Now one would think that after 15+ years I would be ummmm well versed in all things Riley. Apparently not. Could it be that after 15+ years of hearing the same thing over and over and over until my ears were bleeding I learned to just nod my head with a smile on my face while repeating my part of the script?  :O  So not surprising that I would find our Operation IFO videos helpful...even insightful.

I started to write about my “Ah-Ha” moments after watching the videos. I was trying to make it brief and to the point. I couldn’t. It got very lengthy, wordy and did not make a lot of sense. So I decided to leave it for another day. Or not. Probably not. You never know. Somehow I doubt it though. 
  
So instead here are 2 videos taken with this month's Operation IFO goals...eating dinner together or as R likes to say "I'm eating with US!" on a more regular basis. As you can imagine he was so not thrilled. Last week we managed eating 2 dinners in 4 days together. Go me.

This first video features a few pieces of chicken (newish to Operation IFO), carrots and rice (not new; not desirable). My new camera apparently cuts off heads. Go figure. I will confess to operator error and not blame Big Red.

FYI:  Yes, R did call G “Your Majesty” and Tammy…that fork bang at 1:35 was for you.  ;)


The second meal came after his first day of snowshoeing. On his plate was salmon (2nd time), tofu (regular food item) and rice. It took all of 2:30 for him to finish. So much for eating with us.

If you can't see the video...click here.


With so many activities, work, etc. do you have a hard time sitting down for a meal as a family?  If not...what the hell am I doing wrong?!?!?  



18 comments:

  1. OMG you just made my morning. I nearly just spit my cereal out when he called the chicken, chicken POX hahahaa! He is so awesome. He's doing so great!!!!!!!!!!!! I could watch these all day..lol :D

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    1. I know...right??? Inside I was dying when he said that. Now we just have to work on eating some of these foods OUT of the house. :)

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  2. I am curious as to what your "ah-ha" moments are. (In case you ever, probably not, write them down.) Since I am not well-versed in Riley nuances, I don't see too much different between this and other videos.
    I did like that he basically told you to shut up and let him eat. :)

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    1. Yea...he figured that one (I'm eating) out on his own. We used to have to tell him he could say "I don't want to talk right now thank you" if he didn't want to talk as opposed to just yelling "NO! or NO THANK YOU!"

      Since you were so good at posting that salad picture I will do my best to post an explanation. The short version is that MY Ah-Ha moments are more to do with R's communication and how I can see how he links words/phrases to situations that "we" have been going back and forth over for YEARS and suddenly it's right in front of me why. Does that make any sense?!?!?

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  3. Mine are still young enough, that we eat together every night. They are not off in all different directions yet. But hubby, as a shift worker, only gets a couple of dinner meals with us every week. So, it's mostly just me and the 3 kids. And I wish they ate as nice and well as Riley!!! Oh my word, my meals are chaos. It's like Despicable Me when I sit down: "there will be no yelling, laughing, sneezing....burping, or farting!" LOL But, as loud and chaotic as it can be some nights, I would never stop . Friday night is movie/pizza night, and then we are not at the table. Some nights the boys watch their own movie, and the girls watch another. Some nights we all watch the same. Some nights we kick the kids downstairs and we watch on my laptop in the kitchen. It's my one dinner meal of sanity! :)

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    1. Haahaa...Despicable Me...one of R's favourites!! I guess I should be happy he's not quoting from that...or maybe he is?!?!?

      We used to do Friday night movie/pizza night too!! :D

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  4. Oh my gosh, he is just amazing. First, I love how he's quoting lines from "The Little Mermaid." And I can't tell you how many days I would like to say "I'm just going to scream!" (Mostly at work...) I just think this is wonderful. Thank you for sharing these. :)

    We do eat together - it's just the three of us and Zilla is 5 so it's not a huge stretch right now. I really want that to continue. My grandparents and my mom always made sure there was a family meal together. Even on days when we all had places to be, somehow I remember it always fitting in. No idea how she accomplished that - but it always looked like she did it with one hand tied behind her back. I just got done reading about Cheerios' family breakfast project - what a head smack moment. Check it out at Cheerios.

    Thanks again for sharing these - they brought tears to my eyes and made my day. How wonderful.

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    1. Thank YOU for watching Lisa!! When I was a kid we always ate meals together. Then again that was in the dark ages when the only after school activity you did was play ('unsupervised' at that) outside in the neighbourhood.

      I checked out the Cheerios video...I don't know about you but my family has NEVER been that cheery first thing in the morning. :P Great concept though. :)

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    2. Yeah, we are not cheery people...a whole family of grumps. But maybe we can be grumpy in the same place instead of separately. We do great for dinner time, but breakfast is a bit disjointed around here.

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    3. Haaahaaa.....let me know how that works out for you okay??? :D

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  5. Not only one, but TWO #IFO videos?!! Made my whole day!! He is the BEST. Okay, favorite moments: Fork banging - of course! Feel like I got honorable mention at the Emmy's there!! ;) "Chicken POX!" Hahah And he certainly gets his "I'm not happy" point across with the rundown of "Gonna scream, yell, fight, argue, kill you..." Kirsten would like him so much! They could talk about King Triton in Little Mermaid. Kirsten tells me "King Triton is a mean guy. Dad got mad. 'Ariel! Ariel!' He break stuff." Then she laughs. ...loves it when people behave badly. ;) He really is doing great with the IFO. Wow. I'm a tempted to try it myself ...if only I weren't chicken pox. Oh, wait. Forgot the best --> "Your Majesty" !!!!! "Ah-ha" moments? Yes, please!

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    1. You and Rhonda are definitely to blame for the ongoing saga of IFO. :D

      I wish Big Red didn't cut off his head when he was going through his rundown as the facial 'accompaniments" (is that a word?!?) were priceless.

      I (aka Bonnie Hunt) got a shoutout too. Tee hee.

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    2. Yes "Bonnie Hunt" ~ hah! I'm proud to claim co-credit for the ongoing saga. You'll be creating an inspirational compilation for the other food-challenged before you know it. :)

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    3. Funny you should say that....in the middle of the night I thought about doing a "Best of..." compilation. ;P

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  6. You are definitely not doing anything wrong! Today I had aspirations. Snow day tomorrow. No pressure in the morning. Everyone together. But then my 17 yo came down with a fever. So he's in his room and not eating with us. Best laid plans...

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    1. So true isn't it...best laid plans that is. Thanks Stacie! :)

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  7. Wow Di! I see huge differences in how Riley is communicating, and eating, at the dinner table. He is talking and he is telling you when it is too much. I remember being a young adult sitting at the dinner table with my parents and feeling,
    "too many questions". I think Riley handled that very well.

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    1. Oh he'll let you know alright....whether it's too many questions or just plain too much talking "at" him. Ha!

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