A Messy Eater

     Another thing I would like to share is that I’m a messy eater. I try to eat clean, but my hands and my mouth have mind on their own. I can’t get a spoon or a fork up to my mouth right. I guess you can say they go the wrong way in my mouth, but I can feed myself. My drooling doesn’t help, especially with I’m eating soup.
Mom and Dad used to feed me up until they got sick. I fed myself, but when they saw I needed help, they grabbed my spoon. When we had Sloppy Joe or anything I ate with my hands, they would help me. I don’t know why I can eat peanut butter and jelly sandwich by myself.
    Grabbing soft things and eating them with my hands is really messy. My brother asked me once why I don’t buy Little Debbie now. I said it was just too much work. I have to get a plate, spoon, open the cake and then eat. When Mom was alive, she fed me snacks. I loved mini Resees, and I would bring her 5, and she fed me. I would do that to anything we had. People may call me a baby, but I would eat faster if somebody fed me. Am I proud of it? NOO! I feed myself now. I won’t ask anybody for help unless I need help cutting my food. If we have a family gathering, my cousin got to a point saying, “OK, Carol, let me feed you.” She knows I will feed myself without asking for help.
     With my hands, I can eat cookies and candy by myself. The quick snack I eat mostly is dark MM’s because I pour them into a cup and pour them into my mouth.
     If I go somewhere with finger food, I will pick what I know I can handle and not messy.
     I use a spoon mostly. When we have just pizza or anything I don’t chase around, I use a folk. Using a fork and spoon takes up too much time, so I go with a spoon for everything. When I finish, you can see the food is mixed together. I can’t get a certain item on my spoon without the food going everywhere on my plate.
     It seems some of the food goes onto the table and on the floor. I tried to clean it, but I can’t pick things up in a napkin.
     Over the years, I have tried many cups to use. I can’t hold a cup. When I was little, my parents gave me something to drink when I asked for it, they put a towel under my chin and held a cup to my mouth. I used a straw in school and at the golf course. Then we found cool cups with a lid, and I could pour it into my mouth from that straw. I chew straws, so hard ones don't work for me. It seems if I don’t bite it, I don’t get anything. Well, Voc Rehab thought that it was a baby cup, so I found cups with a lid and handle, but they stopped selling those cups, or I needed a cup holder for those big cups. Then I found tumbler cups with a handle, and I have been using them for years. We take my cup everywhere. Yes, we forget my cup sometimes, but we ask for a paper cup with a lid. Using no bend straw is tough, but I can use them.