I have learned that bananas are weapons of mass distraction. Today, however, a banana further amazed me with its capabilities.

This evening my boyfriend, my son and I had dinner with my parents. My son was having a difficult time during the meal. He had been teething all day, and as a result he had 102 fever, was cranky, drooling and refusing to eat his dinner. I was exasperated. I kept re-offering him the chicken, rice and beans combination that we were eating, but he was not having it.

All of a sudden, my boyfriend shot out of his seat at the table.
“I have an idea!”
He grabbed a banana, some plain yogurt and milk and threw them all into a blender.

Then we searched frantically around my parent’s house for a straw. We found an enormous one
(formerly belonging to an old Weight Watchers travel mug) that my boyfriend cut down to toddler-size with a scissor.

The banana shake was a hit! My little guy was sucking down this concoction like mad.
This was a triumph on multiple levels:

1. I was glad that he was getting some nourishment, since he wasn’t eating dinner.
2. He has been refusing to drink milk. Now I know how to bribe him to drink whole milk; banana shakes!

He even decided to feed me some of the shake…along with the straw…