Rules on crust (or "How I'm becoming my mother")

I don't make Lucas finish everything on his plate. Our general rule is take at least one bite of everything and that's good enough. Though if he wants anything else to eat, he'll have to make more of a dent than just one bite here and there.

But this (see photo at left) is something I feel strongly about.

When I was little, I requested that my mom cut the crusts off my bread for sandwiches and whatnot. It wasn't that I didn't like crust, but a lot of my friends were eating sandwiches this way and I probably thought I was missing out on something.

For those of you who know my mom, you know that wasting food goes against every fiber of her being. A standoff ensued: I told her I didn't want any more bread (which was my favorite food at the time) unless she cut the crust off and she said okay, she wasn't going to make anything else with bread unless I ate the whole thing. I think I stood my ground for a week before I folded and started to eat bread again.

Lucas and I have had our own standoffs on this, just this past week. Like my mom, I tell him if he doesn't finish his crust, I won't make him anything else with bread. Like me, he grumbled, then caved, but in a much shorter time.

I guess there aren't that many things that sound worse to a 4-year old than the thought of no more cheese toast or peanut butter sandwiches.