Strawberry Surprise!

 Abhay has always been a picky eater but what he seems to be the pickiest about are fruits! It took me two years to get him to eat an apple! It took us a year more to get him to eat a banana! I know it sounds unreal but true. In fact my pediatrician balked at us accusing us of not trying enough while  suggesting us to buy him water melon with a rhetoric “Which kid does not like a watermelon?”! Till date, Abhay doesn’t eat water melon! Anyway, with his dad’s ingenious tricks and his mom breathing down his neck, Abhay’s list of acceptable fruits started to grow, albeit at a snail’s pace! But one fruit that surprisingly made its way to the top of the list while we were in the US and has stayed there ever since is, strawberry! Strawberries are mostly available all year through in the US, whereas in India they are seasonal and are available only during winter, of course for twice the price! So when the season’s first strawberries arrived at the local grocer, I just had to pick it up even though they cost me a whopping 80 bucks a box! J

 

To celebrate the arrival of the season’s first strawberries, I recalled a book that was read in the story time at the Hillsboro library a couple of years ago. I tried to find the online version of the same, and Voila! I came across this link. A delightful read titled “The Little Mouse, Red Ripe strawberry and the Big Hungry bear” by Don and Audrey Wood. A little mouse is seen scaling up a ladder to pick a red ripe strawberry when he learns about the big hungry who loves red ripe strawberries, and can smell the  ones that have just been picked from even a mile away. As he yanks the fruit off the plant, he hears the  Bear’s footsteps approaching him,  and hears him sniffing for the strawberry. No matter where the strawberry is hidden or who is guarding it, or how it is disguised, the bear will find a way to the red ripe strawberry. Suddenly the mouse realizes that there is only one way to make sure that the bear doesn’t get to it first….ask your little one to guess as you put a red ripe strawberry into his mouth!