Wave, how surprising that Mikkel couldn't keep that job either! Was it an honest mistake this time, or did he actually remember more about the peppers than he let on? And of course it's always great to read something from you!
Everyone, we need a new prompt.
Here's something (too) spicy:
”No! No eat! Bad!” Four year old Lalli did not use many words, but the ones he did he wielded forcefully. At this instance he was unhappy about the meal is father was trying to feed him.
“Come on, Lalli! It’s soup. You like soup, don’t you?”
“No! Bad soup!”
“This is the same soup we have all the time! Pureed potato, carrots and onion in broth. And the onions were fried first. Just like you like it.”
“Soup is wrong!” Lalli smacked both hands on his mouth to make sure Jukka couldn’t maneuver any of the offending food into it.
“Please, Lalli. You must eat.” The only response was a muffled “mrrr”.
Jukka was torn. Lalli needed to eat, the boy was thin as a twig. On the other hand he knew how useless it was to try to force anything on him. Nevertheless, he took his son into his lap and gently took his hands off his mouth. “Open up now, the boat is coming to the pier! The lake gates need to open for the boat!” Sometimes this worked.
This was not one of those times. Quickly as a cat the kid slipped his hands out of his father’s and slammed the bowl. “No! Wrong soup!” Lalli was in tears. Jukka wasn’t exactly happy either, with soup all over his face and shirt (Lalli had of course managed to dodge all of it – sometimes Jukka wondered if his son actually had some cat in him), but we knew his son and understood Lalli was not acting up but was genuinely distressed.
“All right dear. I see there really is something wrong with the soup. You don’t need to eat it, ok?”
*sniffle*mrh*grnt*sniffle* Lalli was calming down a little. His father gave him a light hug.
“Can you explain to me what do you think is wrong with the soup? Like I said it has the exact same ingredients.”
“No! It’s wrong. Smell wrong. I KNOW it taste wrong too. Bad bad soup!”
Just then Tuulikki stepped in.
“Hello darlings, I…" She took in the scene, with the squirming child and her husband covered in soup. "Oh. I guess Lalli doesn’t like marjoram either.”
“Gee, thanks for the heads up, honey!” But Jukka couldn’t really complain. He was the one who had suggested they could try something other than chives and parsley in some of the foods (and dill, but only with fish). Apparently, their son didn’t agree.
I wanted to use dragon as the offending herb, but the Finnish name doesn't mean dragon as in the mythical creature. I know I would have been tempted to come up with a pun about how the soup is of course too hot if you put dragon in it, but it wouldn't work in Finnish. So I used marjoram. Or rather, Tuulikki did.
Also I hope it's clear Jukka is trying to coax Lalli to eat and not force him. He doesn't mind touching by his parents here.
