Did You Eat Any Protein?
Shane is a teenager. This fact occasionally escapes me, because he is so much more compliant than Dylan.
One morning, Dylan left for the day and I was alone with Shane. Normally this would be a case for a day of board games and trips to the ice cream parlor, library and/or movies. But on this particular day, I said goodbye to Dylan in the yard – and when I came back inside, Shane was gone.
“Shane?” I called – but got no answer. I looked upstairs. His bedroom door was closed, meaning that he wanted to do his own thing for awhile.
Hm, I thought. I guess he doesn’t want to hang out right now. So I plopped myself down in front of the computer and checked my email.
About an hour later, Shane emerged from his room, came downstairs, and sat at his computer to play a video game.
“I need to talk to you,” I said. I explained a laundry issue I’d been having, and then talked to him about high school orientation.
“Okay,” he grunted. Then he turned around and started playing his video game.
(Since Shane is a stickler for accuracy, I will say that it’s possible that he grunted more than one word, but I don’t remember it that way.)
“Are you okay?” I asked. “Have you eaten lunch?”
“I’m fine,” he said – but his voice was even more monotone than usual. He did not look at me.
Shane virtually lives on carbohydrates, especially at breakfast time, which isn’t great for his developing brain and body. “You should really eat lunch,” I suggested. “You could use a little protein.”
A few minutes later, with barely a hint of chair-shoving, Shane got up and made himself lunch. He plopped himself down in front of the TV and ate plain pasta.
I went in and looked at him. He looked back at me without the slightest hint of joy. A few minutes later he got up, went into the kitchen, and cut himself a piece of cake.
“You still seem a bit cranky. Did you eat any protein?” I asked. While I realize that there’s more to healthy eating than just adding protein, it is often the best I can do with Shane.
“I had cheese on my pasta,” he told me.
“That’s not enough, Shane. You are really grouchy. Please eat a couple of chunks of chicken.”
“But I want cake,” he argued.
“You can have cake,” I told him. “Just please eat some protein first.”
So Shane ate a few chunks of chicken. Then he went back to the TV for his cake.
I stayed in the office, out of his way.
One minute later, he came out and said, “Phineas and Ferb is on, if you want to watch it with me.” Shane knows I love Phineas and Ferb. He probably didn’t want anything to do with me, but he was trying to be nice.
“That’s okay,” I told him. “Thanks, but you can watch whatever you want.”
And he did. He watched Phineas and Ferb without me. After all, he needs his space.
But it was nice to be invited, just the same.