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David and the pea

No, this is not a version of the nursery rhyme with happy ending. It is about the trials and tribulations of getting
children to eat vegetables. The child in question was David, who had an unnatural dislike for peas. We can all sym-
pathise, as there are some foods that we just cannot eat despite our omnivorous nature. I tend to eat nearly any-
thing but there are a few food (and I use that term loosely) that I just cannot stomach. Tripe for example.

OK – bad joke.

Even so, I empathise with Dave as he heroically tried to eat the three peas that were put on his plate at one dinner.

At the end of the dinner there were still three peas left on his plate and no amount of cajoling could convince him to eat
them. In our house, no one was allowed to leave the table until all had finished the meal. A good rule that forced us to
be social and bond as a family. However when all had finished except one little boy who refused to eat his peas tensions
invariable started to mount. Dad and Steve took over at this point and thinking that his behaviour was similar to taking
medicine they provided some incentive to eat the pea. In this case, a very large glass of red cordial - David’s favourite
drink at that time. So armed with a pint of red drink they proceeded to force him to eat a pea followed by copious
amounts of red drink. Now dad and Steve are not small men and they towered over David, who at that time had not
grown into the behemoth he was to become. All seemed to be going according to plan, the pea was swallowed although
it took more than one glass of red drink. Dad and Steve where about to start on the next pea when David erupted into a
geyser of red cordial and unidentified stomach contents. Yes there were carrots – there is always carrots. The eruption
covered both of them and half of the kitchen in a sea of unsavoury solution. Any further attempts at forcing him to eat
the remaining two peas were quickly dropped and it was unanimously decided that dinner had finished. Strangely no one
was in the mood for dessert.