Hey, I just did what you told me to do!

A few months ago Rachael taught us that we have to be very specific with the conditions we set for her, because she takes us at our word - literally.

We were eating dinner and Rachael's mouth was stuffed. Unlike her mother or brother, Rachael follows her father's eating philosphy of mixing all the different foods together and eating it combined. She was eating quite well and happily until we brought out a new dish, it was probably jello. The kids aren't allowed to have jello until they have eaten their dinner. So, Mike offered Rachael the jello and said, "ok, you can have some when your mouth is empty." Well, Rachael considered that for a moment then spit out all the food from her mouth into her hand. She offered the masticated mess to Mike with the announcement that she was, "all done. jello."

Well, what could Mike do? Her mouth was empty, as instructed. She got her jello and we got quite the lesson on being specific.