#one time it was undercooked mush and the other it was so overcooked the skin was so hard you couldn't cut it at all | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

screpdoodle · 3 years

Text

Duality - Chapter Eight (The Irony of the Situation is Palpable)

Dinner felt like it had been going on for hours, even though it had only been minutes since Kaos had sat down at the table. He poked and prodded at his food with the back of his fork, the metal slightly tarnished from use, sectioning them off from each other. Charred sheepsteak in one corner of the plate, over-boiled potatoes and soggy string beans in the other. Kaos sighed, leaning his head against the palm of his hand, his nose wrinkling at the smell wafting from his plate. Hot socks and wet starch. No matter how many times he had it, he’d never get used to the scent.

Kaos glanced up from his plate to the seat across from him. There sat the person he had dreaded seeing all night. His father. Kaos’ father had always been a cold man, but tonight he seemed positively glacial. Icy blue eyes seemed to stare straight through Kaos as his father ate wordlessly, the silence punctuated by the clinking of cutlery on porcelain. Kaos would have thought that he would have been chewed out the moment his father laid eyes on him, but the conversation had halted at “hello”. His father threw his long hair over his shoulder, which he had tied in a low ponytail. His usually clean-shaven face was dotted with stubble, though it was barely noticeable against his tanned skin.

“Your food’s going to get cold, Kaos.” His father finally spoke up. “Don’t let it go to waste.”

Kaos furrowed his brow, then looked down to his plate, sticking the end of his fork in the corner of his mouth. When he noticed his father’s gaze was still trained on him, he let out a reluctant grumble, reaching across the table to grab the gravy boat. His fingers barely brushed against the handle, even after he had stood up on his chair to try to get a little more leverage. Kaos strained to reach farther, feeling his father’s eyes boring into his skull, before he slowly pushed the gravy boat towards Kaos. Kaos snatched it up, sitting back down with a huff, before completely dousing his plate in lukewarm, watery gravy. Beside him, Dyskord snickered.

“It’s steak, Kaos, not soup.”

“Shut up.”

Resisting the urge to puke, Kaos scooped up one of the potatoes, the misshapen sphere only held together by its sandpapery skin. He looked to his father once more, scrunched his eyes closed, then took a bite. The gravy did nothing to mask the taste of starch and stale water that seemed to make his entire body seize up. This seemed to satisfy his father, though, as he had returned to his own meal without another word. Kaos stuck his tongue out, wiping the mush off to the best of his ability with his napkin, shuddering as the taste lingered. His mother definitely had a talent for cooking; the potatoes were somehow both undercooked and overcooked at the same time. Not even he could complete a feat like that. Kaos looked around the table, questioning how his siblings were managing to eat this swill with straight faces. Meyhem even seemed to be enjoying it, taking particular glee in chopping the rubbery sheepsteak into slices and hitting them against her plate before eating them. Kaos poked at his own steak, then felt his stomach churn as he swore he saw the charred lump move.

“So, children. Catch me up. What’s happened since I’ve been gone?”

Kaos nearly dropped his fork, feeling his heart stop. He looked up, glancing around the table to see who would speak up first. Was this a setup? Was this his way to catch Kaos red-handed? Make him out to be the villain? He watched as his father adjusted his ascot, then tucked it back into his shirt. He hadn’t bothered changing from his grimy, nature soiled adventuring gear - despite Mother insisting they had to dress up to welcome him back. At least he had taken off his hat for dinner.

“I mean, it’s been nearly a year, what don’t we have to say?” Dyskord fiddled with his collar.

“At least it wasn’t five, right Dad?” Meyhem giggled. “Mum told me that’s the longest you’ve been away!”

“It was only four and a half, Mey.”

“Four and a half, on and off.” Mother corrected. “Your father stopped by when he could, just not for very long.”

Kaos’ father chuckled dryly, dabbing the corners of his mouth off with his napkin. “Now now, let’s get back on topic. How about we narrow it down to today if that helps?”

Kaos couldn’t help but fixate on the patronising tone to his father’s voice, as if it was their fault he had been gone for so long. He didn’t speak up about it though, simply sinking into his chair as if trying to shrink even smaller as he chewed on the prongs of his fork, pretending to eat.

“I got a W on my sheepball practice this morning!” Meyhem piped up through a mouthful of string beans, bouncing up and down in her seat. She had stuck the fork in her hair, the handle sticking out of the mess of curls.

“A double U?” Kaos’ father raised an eyebrow, looking at Meyhem quizzically. “I didn’t know they started grading sheepball practices… The more you know I suppose.”

As Meyhem laughed to herself, Father locked eyes with Kaos, then skipped past him, addressing Dyskord instead.

“How about you, son? Anything interesting happen?”

“Nah, just more of the usual.” Dyskord rested his hands behind his head. He probably would have rested his feet on the table too if it weren’t for the side eye Mother was giving him. “Worked on the speed racer a bit, helped Kaos with his homework like a good big brother, et cetera.”

Kaos rolled his eyes. First day back and Dyskord was already sucking up to him. Typical. It was usually the other way around, Kaos would ‘help’ Dyskord by doing his homework for him back when he was in school; in exchange for favors of course. But after Kaos crashed the ‘Speed Racer 1.0’ into the kitchen, that arrangement they had created was quickly dissolved. Though Kaos would still sometimes help out of the goodness of his heart (or the need for Dyskord not to rat him out to Mother)

“Very good, very good. You’ll have to show me sometime.” Kaos’ father smiled, then he turned his focus to Kaos, his expression becoming slightly more forced. “What about you… Kaos?”

He said his name like it left a bad taste in his mouth. Kaos felt his blood run cold. He quickly glanced to his mother, who had started to open her mouth, but quickly interrupted her.

“It was fine.” He looked to the ground, crossing his arms.

“Just fine?”

“Yes.”

“Nothing of note-”

“No.”

“Don’t interrupt me, boy.”

Kaos sank further down, muttering under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Havok, dear, there’s something we need to-”

Before his mother could finish her sentence, Meyhem tuned into the conversation, looking to Kaos with a confused look on her face.

“What do you mean? Of course there was something of note, you blew up your school!” She blurted out.

The table fell silent. Kaos’ mother was the first to break the silence, exhaling slowly. Kaos shot Meyhem a glare that could cut through steel, though she just grinned back sheepishly. Kaos’ father’s gaze went from confused to frigid in a manner of seconds, looking down at Kaos like he was nothing but a roach.

“Well, I think I should get going,” Dyskord pushed his chair back, getting to his feet, “Wonderful meal, Mother, I’ll be upstairs if anyone needs-”

“Sit, Dyskord.”

“Yessir.” Dyskord sat down quickly, folding his hands in his lap.

Kaos’ father looked around the table at the others, then closed his eyes, processing the words.

“...when were you planning on telling me?” His voice was low, like the calm before the storm.

“I was going to tell you when you got home, sweetheart, but dinner got in the way, and I didn’t want to stress you with the-”

Kaos’ mother was cut off by Kaos’ father getting to his feet, pushing his chair back with a sharp squeak of the legs against the tile. He set his hands down on the table forcefully, causing it to shudder from the force. Kaos could feel beads of sweat trickling down his forehead, but he did his best to ignore them.

“Kaos. We have told you many times about correct behaviour, have we not?”

“Yes, but, it wasn’t only me! Dyskord helped-”

“Kaos. We are not talking about Dyskord. We are talking about you and your actions today. And those actions crossed the line.”

Kaos opened his mouth to interject once more, to try and contradict his father’s statements, but the words got lodged in his throat. The look of displeasure plastered across his father’s face, the cold, hard anger burning in his eyes, made Kaos chest tighten. Slowly, Kaos closed his mouth and slouched down in his chair, letting Father continue.

“I can take rule-breaking. The lying, the stealing, we’ve dealt with those before. But this- this is unacceptable! I have had enough of this deplorable behaviour from you, Kaos. You are turning nineteen this year, and these childish habits are out of the question!” With every word he spat, Kaos’ father’s voice rose. “What image do you paint of our family when you act like a child-”

“Maybe because you treat me like one!” It was Kaos’ turn to shout now. He stood up on his chair, slamming his hands down on the table like his father had; though even with all of his force behind it he could barely even cause the water in the glasses to ripple. “Maybe if you didn’t treat me like a baby, like a disgrace to the family name, I wouldn’t act this way! Ever thought of that, Father!? Hmm?! You said it yourself. I am turning FREAKING NINETEEN! I’M NOT THE FRAIL, SICKLY CHILD I WAS! AND I DON’T NEED YOU TO LOOK AFTER ME ANY MORE!”

“Kaos, I am done dealing with this kind of conduct from you!”

“Whatcha gonna do! Lock me in the dungeons? Throw away the key? Discard me like the piece of trash you treat me like?!”

“Up to your room. Now.”

“Oh, so no threatening me with a life sentence this time, eh Father?”

“NOW!”

Kaos didn’t budge. The seconds ticked past like molasses, before Kaos gave his father the one finger salute and hopped off the chair, making a break for it up to his room. His father’s enraged yelling echoed through the halls after him as Kaos bolted up the stairs, down the hallway and into his room. He made sure to slam the door closed, as loud as he could, behind him. Leaning against the door, he could still feel the shouting rattling through his skull, and the tears brimming in the corners of his vision.

Tick tick tick tick...

Kaos turned over onto his side, facing the wall. His fingers dug into the sides of his head as he scrunched his eyes closed, desperately attempting to fall asleep. So far, nothing had come of it. Kaos groaned, rolling onto his back, staring up at the ceiling with dry, bloodshot eyes. The darkness swirled and twirled around his vision, making shapes on the ceiling. Despite it slipping late into the night, Kaos could still hear his parents down on the ground floor. Bickering. Arguing. Talking about him.

Tick, tick, tick, tick

Kaos dug his fingers in harder, scrunching his eyes shut.

Tick, tick, tick, tick

“Shut. Up.” Kaos grumbled through clenched teeth. How was he supposed to get any rest with that noise growing louder and louder by the second. He flipped onto his front, folding the sides of the pillow over his ears. Not that it would do much good.

Tick, tick, tick, tick

“Shut up!” Kaos growled, slightly louder than before, though his voice was muffled by the pillowcase he was biting on. He buried his face deeper into the pillow, feeling the mattress below with the tip of his nose. No matter how hard he tried, it wouldn’t stop.

Tick tick tick tick tick

“SHUT THE HELL UP!”

With a start, Kaos ripped the pillow out from under him and chucked it to the side with all of his might. It flew over the side of the bed and crashed against the far wall with a muffled thump, followed by the sound of clattering. With a groan, Kaos looked up from his bed and over to where the pillow had landed… on top of his desk. It had knocked over his writing utensil jar, spilling the quills and pencils onto the floor. Kaos exhaled slowly, exasperated and exhausted. He rolled onto his back, then sat up, letting his legs dangle over the edge of the bed. Taking a deep breath, Kaos scrunched his eyes closed and pushed himself off the edge of the bed, landing with a quiet thump. He braced himself for the sharp tingling that flooded up his legs on impact, opening one eye, then the other as he shook his legs out to get rid of the feeling. Kaos walked over to his desk and scooped up the fallen utensils, dumping them back into their container, before snatching up his pillow and starting the walk of shame back to his bed.

“He’s more trouble than he’s worth, sweetheart.”

Kaos froze, hearing his father's muffled voice come through the closed door. He could see the light of the fireplace curling and flickering through the crack, taunting him, drawing him to the outside like a beckoning finger. Ignoring the growing urge to sleep, Kaos walked over to the door and cracked it open, squinting as he peered out from the safety of his room.

“I know, but he is getting better-”

“You call blowing up his school 'getting better’?”

Silence followed those words. Carefully, Kaos crept from his bedroom to the railing, watching his parents’ shadows silhouetted against the carpeted floor of the foyer. They faced away from each other, wrapped up in their own tasks as the crackle of the fire punctuated the quiet.

“...What should we do?” Mother spoke first, “He needs to be educated, but we already tried homeschooling… and he needs more interaction than just his siblings. That room is not a good environment for him.”

“He spends most of his time in there, I swear he’s plotting world domination.”

Kaos scrunched his nose up, kneeling down to get a better view. He pressed his face against the railings, letting his arm hang down between them. So what if he spent almost every waking, and sleeping, moment locked up in there? It was his life, he could do what he wanted with it. And it wasn’t like Father was there often enough to actually care. Judging by the silence falling once again, his mother wasn’t too pleased with the comment either.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I know how touchy you get with those subjects.”

Kaos silently gagged as he watched his father’s shadow embrace his mother’s, forming nothing but an amorphous blob of darkness and PDA. He heard his mother sigh, his father stepping back.

“It’s alright, dear. I’m just... worried. More and more is stuff happening with work and the Portal Masters, and now Kaos...”

“Don’t fret. We’ll sort everything out. I’m sure of it.”

Again, silence. With the ticking finally slipping away, his mind was now free to think. Free to pick up on things that would have usually been blocked. It always seemed like it was put there to distract him, to pull his mind away from the little tidbits of knowledge he overheard. In this case, it was the mention of the Portal Masters…

Over the years, Kaos had heard that title pop up, whether it be through books, passing conversation, or his mother. Tales of the big bad Portal Masters that would eat your eyes if you didn’t clean your room or go to bed on time, though over the years Kaos had stopped believing those little lies, and Mother had stopped telling them; simply commanding Kaos to “mind his own business” or “not to stick his nose in other people’s business” whenever he asked about them. Though, from bits and pieces of conversations he had ‘stuck his nose into’, Kaos had been able to glean that the Portal Masters were the worst of the worst; the ones causing all of the issues throughout the Skylands. Though they didn’t actually eat naughty children’s eyeballs (as far as he knew), they definitely weren’t to be taken lightly.

“I didn’t want to bring this up until the end of the year, but... now I see no other option.”

Kaos was yanked from his thoughts, looking back down through the railings at the sound of the conversation resuming.

“What is it?”

“While exploring a while back, I found a school that may be a bit more suited for our… genius child,” Kaos couldn’t help but cringe at the way his father said ‘genius’, spitting it out like a mushy, over-boiled potato. “And now that going back to the other school isn’t an option, it may be a good choice to look further into it.”

“What’s it called, dear?”

“Glimfeather Prep. Now, before you say anything, I know it’s out of the way, but I really do think this would be good for him. It would give him a taste of reality, and would help crack down on this… behavioral issue of his. We can’t coddle him forever; today only further proves that.”

As if locking him in the dungeon was ‘coddling’ him. Kaos felt more coddled by a pack of wild Chompies trying to pull his flesh off of his bones.

His mother sighed, turning away from his father. “I don’t know, Havok. Maybe we could try homeschooling again. He wouldn't get into trouble and I’m sure I could straighten him out properly this time-”

“Kaossandra, we both know that won’t work.” His father’s voice took on a stern tone, making Kaos tense up, as if expecting the words to punch him in the face. “If homeschooling didn’t work before, there’s no chance it would now.”

“...You’re right, Havok. We can look into it in the morning.” Mother finally caved, hanging her head with a long sigh.

Kaos could almost see his father’s shadow grinning as he put an arm around Mother, the battle already won before Kaos even had a chance to fight. He felt his heart sink, dragged down to the pit of his stomach by the icy hand of defeat. He stared blankly through the bars, his mind grinding to a stop. All of that work, that preparation, that planning… for nothing? Kaos yawned, curling into himself as a weight settled on his shoulders. He could feel his eyelids drooping, but he forced them open again at the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards the stairs. In a panic, Kaos scrambled to his feet, trying not to make a ruckus as he fled back to his room; his heavy heart pounding like a drum, threatening to burst. Internal bleeding would have been the moldy cherry on the fish head sundae, so he was thankful it didn’t. Dragging his pillow along the ground behind him, Kaos completed his walk of shame back to his bed, flopping down face first in his nest of blankets and loose sheets of paper. He had failed. Situational irony at his finest, he thought. Hugging his pillow like one would a plush, Kaos finally let his eyes fall closed, the darkness enveloping his mind as he slipped into the land of dreams.

<- previous chapter | next chapter ->

#skylanders forever #skylanders #bring back the skylands #skylands historia #duality #second leaf #writing #my writing #fan fiction #fan retelling #fan continuation #skylanders kaos

1 note · View note

maeskitchen · 6 years

Text

Feeding Fussy Kids (and adults) Advice

I was a fussy kid and unfortunately, am still a fussy adult who battles severe aversions to different foods every day. One of the biggest myths about fussy eaters is that they “choose” to be that way and it’s just a matter of getting over themselves.

I’m sorry to say that it’s probably something deeper that is structural or chemical within the brain that we haven’t quite pinned down yet (kids brains are still forming so it makes sense they would be susceptible to phases where this is more of an issue). I’m not a psychologist but I’ve lived my life with this cloud in my head, it’s been my constant companion and I know it’s not just a choice I make, it’s a legit mental phenomenon. Unfortunately, there are a lot of stigmas attached to this “condition” (forgive me for lack of a better word, I don’t want to come off ableist but I have no other way to reference it).

So, what do you do? How can you help someone eat a variety of foods, especially a kid when you’re concerned with their nutritional health? I have a whole host of tips! Please do read on.

1. Be patient, calm and an advocate for your child. This is not like commuting in traffic. Please, don’t allow your anger and impatience to take the wheel. You will do untold damage if you try to exert your will over a situation your child experiences as almost a life/death struggle.

For example, my particular aversion has a lot to do with texture rather than taste. If something is grainy, slimy, slippery, mushy and so on . . . putting it in my mouth elicits an instant fear and activates my gag reflex. Our gag reflex is a survival instinct. Forcing your child to try to overcome this in an almost interrogation-like setting and under threat from someone who is supposed to love them unconditionally just compounds the feeling of mortal danger.

I sat at the dinner table once for six hours until my dad angrily sent me to bed because I couldn’t eat a veggie. I outlasted my father at his most terrifying not because I was trying to subvert his will but because my choice was pretty stark. I legit thought if I tried to chew or swallow something I didn’t like, I would puke until I died and I knew if I puked it up and lived (because I had done so before), he would get even angrier. In those days, corporal punishment was much more prevalent if you get my drift.

Think of it this way, when refusing food, your kid has gone into survival mode like a cat in a corner. How do you get that cat out of the corner? Do you scream and flail at it or do you get down on its level and coax it out? You want your child to trust you and eat what you’ve made? Love your child, be gentle and patient and give them time. Back off and try again another time if you aren’t making progress.

!!!Go to war for your kid if someone else is trying to manipulate or abuse them over this issue. They need you to understand and be on their side. You may be the only person who does so. Can you imagine how lonely it feels to be one your own in this fight?!!!

I fully believe the psychological warfare that goes on around food consumption contributes to eating disorders later in life. Lord knows, I have suffered them all.

2. Get your kids involved in the making of their own meals. Take the mystery out of what they’re eating. The standard wisdom of trying to “trick” your child by concealing what’s in their food is just so wrong headed. Again, you want your child to trust you, right? Laughing at them later and saying “see, there was onions in that and you didn’t even know” is such a hurtful, spiteful way of treating a person you love. Food is a basic necessity of life. Your child trusts you implicitly with their survival. Playing games with that trust will backfire. They will become more fussy and refuse more food because they will feel like you are duplicitous and a liar.

So, have them help you prep the food. Have them handle and cut the veggies they fear, for example. If your kid is too young, just have them watch what you do. Explain what you are making. The more familiar they are with each ingredient from every angle, the more likely they are to try them. Also, kids love to take ownership in things and pride in their creations. They are more likely to eat something that is “theirs”.

3. Learn some technique, take cooking courses if you can. Overcooking and undercooking foods, poor assembly, poor ingredient balance and so on all contribute to refusal of food. Sometimes, a spade is a spade. Maybe, the dish you think is alright is actually kinda awful. If you have the opportunity to learn some technique from cooking classes (look up your local community center, sometimes these are put on for very cheap). Better still, take your child to these classes if you can and use it as an opportunity to bond with them over food.

4. Learn how to handle the dreaded onion. Onions are the number one ingredient on the “no eat” list. My tips are to mince your onion fine in consistent cuts for fussy people. Honestly, I still can’t eat them unless they’re diced in pieces smaller than 3 to 4 mm or 1/8 to 1/4 in. The trick when you use minced onion is not to put too much of it in a dish, use a third to half of what you would have used if the onion was cut in larger pieces to not overwhelm the dish with “oniony” flavor. Also, make sure they are sauteed and browned thoroughly (sometimes, this means in a separate pan to cook them down before adding them to a dish). Avoid big chunks of onion in anything. Large gobs of boiled onions are the worst. They tend to separate in layers so you get slime, a skin and mush. So unappetizing!!!

Onions can also be substituted for shallots and leek which have a similar flavor, but different texture and are more easily minced fine.

These tips apply to more than the onion, though. There are a lot of ingredients that if we just used a little less of them in the dish and paid a little more attention to their preparation, they would be readily consumed by fussy kids/people.

5. Give up if you must. You are not a failure and your child is not a failure. Most kids grow out of their aversions or learn to deal with them in their own way. Get your kid some vitamin supplements and move on with your lives. Read menus ahead of time and plan outings that will reduce anxiety on them by finding out what food will be served and if they will have choices. Be firm in your defense of your child. Treat others who would pass judgement with dismissal and don’t ever, ever let them make your feel like you don’t have your child’s best interests at heart. Stare them down. Let them be pressed about it. Let it be their problem, not yours.

#Fussy kids and fussy eaters tips #food aversion #a plea to parents especially

21 notes · View notes