Eating... Mr. Monk Style

We call Noah "Mr. Monk" after the show "Monk" that features an obsessive compulsive detective with all kinds of funny idiosyncrasies.  


Noah has all kinds of his own idiosyncrasies that make us laugh and make him uniquely him.  


He hates to be dirty or messy.  He doesn't finger paint or touch sticky things.  He doesn't like to walk in the rain for fear of his shoes getting dirty.  If his clothes get dirty while playing outside, he voluntarily comes inside to change them.  He doesn't touch the dog treats because he doesn't like the way they feel.  He doesn't "pet" at the "petting zoo".  The other day, he wouldn't play on a friend's floor because he said there was dog hair everywhere.  He puts his toys in the proper "spots" we have designated for them.  He doesn't leave toothpaste "yuck" in the sink.  He never misses the potty.  Plain and simple... the kid is clean!


And that cleanliness extends to his eating habits as well.  


He won't eat peanut butter between crackers because it is too messy.  He uses a napkin.... always.  If a piece of food falls on the table, he shrieks until it is cleaned up.  He won't eat grilled cheese if the cheese is "coming out" of the bread.  He always uses a piece of flatware (unless it's chicken fingers or french fries).  He rarely even has a crumb left at his "spot" at the table.  


And in Noah's world, the worst offense of all is having his food touch other food!  He simply cannot stand it!  The only exception to this very steadfast rule is mashed potatoes and noodles... he will allow the noodles to be on top of the potatoes.  That is the one and only rare exception.  


So, naturally, the eating utensils can only touch ONE food item on his plate.  There can be absolutely NO crossover use of utensils... not in the world of our Mr. Monk!  As you might imagine, we go through a lot of forks in this household....

I've tried to tell Noah that when he goes to school, he is only going to be given ONE fork with which to eat ALL of his food.  He's not ready to make that big of a transition yet.  He still counts all of the food on his plate and announces to me how many forks/spoons he will need to accomplish his eating for that meal!  Good thing we have a year to work on transitioning to the one fork method!