Aidan has reached an age that if it doesn’t taste good, he was not going to eat it. Of course, this also extends to medicine.
Aidan had been sick the last few days and was prescribed antibiotics that supposedly tastes like cherries, but for some reason, he preferred to avoid it like The Plague. Thi tried giving him his first dose last night and Aidan fought it with all his might. Needless to say, after the dust settled, most of the medicine either ended up on the floor or on Thi.
This morning, it was my turn to give Aidan his medicine and I was determined to “persuade” him to “want” to take the medicine. I figured, Aidan is an intelligent and rationale kid. He should be able comprehend why he needed to take the medicine, right?
Attempt #1: “The discussion”
I sat down with Aidan and discussed why he needed the medicine. I asked him if he was uncomfortable and if he wanted to “fix” it. He looked me in the eye and sincerely said “yes”. I told him using a big happy face that the medicine will help him “fix” the cough and it tasted like cherries. I was sure I was getting through to him, but right when I took out the medecine, he started screaming like a banshee. After some more “discussing”, I could see that I was not getting anywhere.
Attempt #2: “The disguise”
After the failed discussions, I next resorted to disguising the medicine. I figured that if I can mask the taste of the medicine, he wouldn’t know that he was taking it. He drinks a glass of milk in mornings so I decided to hide it in there. Well, right after he took his first gulp, he immediately stared straight at me with a look of disgust on his face and proceeded to spit out whatever milk was left in his mouth. I didn’t think his taste buds were so sensitive.
Attempt #3: “The negotiation”
Maybe what he needed was a little give-and-take. I knew he liked granola bars so I proceeded to use it as leverage and negotiate with him. I told him that could have one bite of the granola bar first before taking the medicine and I would give him the rest right after. Of course, being the trusting father, I believed him when he said OK. Well, after the first bite, needless to say he wanted a second. Seeing that the negotiations were going nowhere, I decided it was time to move on.
Attempt #4: “The bribe”
Running out of options, I resorted to the one thing I really dislike to do, straight bribery. I really dislike bribing the kids, but I thought that if he gets what he wanted, I would get what I wanted. I proceeded to offer him the entire granola bar, some jello, fruits, and almost anything else relatively healthy that he loves, but to avail. This kid was not going to budge.
Attempt #5: “The hard way”
Everything else had failed. I was out of options, but I needed to get him to take his medicine. I had no other choice but to hold him down and try to navigate the spoon into his mouth. Not surprising, it was much harder than I had anticipated even with me holding him down. He screamed at the top of his lungs and bucked liked bronco. Right then though, I saw my chance. He had opened his mouth wide to prepare for his next scream and I quickly stuck the spoon into his mouth. Before he knew what was happening, he had swallowed the medicine. His face wrinkled up like a prune, but it was over. I gave him some water, the rest of his granola bar, and within minutes, he was back to normal. Success albeit having to employ some trickery and physical persuasion.
I learned at least one thing from this experience. No matter how rationale or intelligent we think our kids are, sometimes as parents, we just have to do it “the hard way” to get across to them.
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