“The Phase of Dropping the Spoon on Purpose During Meals” explained in 4 pictures

At some point, my child started dropping the spoon every time we ate. At first, I thought maybe it had just slipped by accident, so I picked it up. But the next day, and the day after that, the spoon went to the floor in the same way. My child listened to the sound it made and stared intently at my face.

🤔 Have you ever thought during a meal, “Is this play? Am I being tested?”

I picked it up, wiped it, and handed it back. Then my child smiled and dropped it once more with a little plop. When I said, “Ah, it fell again,” my child laughed out loud as if they had been waiting for that. The meal wasn’t moving along, the floor was getting dirty, and honestly, there were days when I just sighed.

After yet another “plop,” I almost let out a low, stern voice. But when I looked at my child’s face, they didn’t seem to be doing something wrong so much as feeling happy about discovering something. When it drops, it makes a sound. The parent picks it up. They hand it back again. Inside that little head, the dining table may have turned into a kind of laboratory.

🤔 Have you ever wanted to feel irritated, but ended up laughing after seeing your child’s expression?

After a while, the spoon that had been dropped every single day somehow stopped falling before I even noticed. Now my child is trying to scoop up food on their own, spilling a little but wearing a serious expression. Back then, that sound made me think, “Again?” But looking back, it was a sign that lasted only for a short phase. Even the many times I wiped the floor around the dining table became a memory that feels uniquely ours.