Music Calms the Savage Beast

Asher is on a food strike. It's not that he doesn't like food. It's just that he likes his toys better. This, however, doesn't change the fact that getting him to eat much has been a struggle lately. During the last couple of weeks, many mealtimes have gone something like this: I ask Asher if he wants something to eat. He says "NO!" and runs away, hoarding an armful of his toys next to his chest. I follow him to his bedroom and offer him specific things to eat that I know he loves. He runs away again shouting "Nonononono!" I pick him up, take his toys out of his hands, and place him in his highchair. He concedes defeat and allows me to put his bib on. He eats about half of what he normally would, and then starts spitting food out and throwing things on the floor declaring, "don't like it!" (unless what I am serving him happens to be blackberries, which he would eat non-stop until the Second Coming if I let him) I take him out of his highchair and clean him up, then have him help me clean up the food-throwing mess. He runs off happily to play with his toys, which is what he wanted to be doing in the first place. Sigh. Today, after I had Asher strapped into his highchair for lunch and he had his food on his tray, I got out my flute. I figured it would be a good time to play--not for Asher's sake, but for mine, since he was stuck in his chair and couldn't grab my expensive and delicate toy. But he really seemed to like it, and, except for the occasional request for a favorite primary song and some intermittent delighted giggling, he ate steadily and quietly. The little stinker ate a bunch of strawberries and carrots and two bowls each of whole-wheat pasta and cottage cheese. I'm not sure what I think of a permanent role as Asher's dinner music, and it might have just been a fluke anyway, but I might have found a way to get my little savage through this toys-are-way-better-than-food phase. Maybe.