Plop!

I have many memories of being a baby and a toddler. One I recall is being a toddler, and my father was trying to get me to eat. Sometimes, when you're a kid, you just don't want to eat. I was taking bites, and chewing, but concealing the food in my mouth. After all the stress I put him through, he began to say, to my mother, that at least I had eaten the -- and at that moment I opened my mouth and let the wad of food plop out. I thought I was funny. He never finished his sentence because said a word that started with "D."

I think urging kids to eat is a bad idea. But when I urge my kids to eat, I make sure to note whether they swallow.

Another thing I remember is taking fake bites of a hamburger he was trying to feed me. I would put my teeth right up into the divot of the previous bite, and wrap my lips generously around the bun, pretending to take a big bite. He fell for that a couple of times, then wised up and told me to take real bites. I can still see that little tiny hamburger. And across all these years, I still don't want it. What amazes me now about the memory is this thought: I ate part of a hamburger made by an American suburban couple in the early 1960s! It's like time travel. So bizarre to have been there. And so typical that the idea of good food for a kid back then was a hamburger.

I don't have any memories of my mom trying to force me to eat. Maybe she was too smart for that.

Left grip is 44 pounds (42, 44, 42), right grip is 94 pounds (91, 90, 94), left leg balance is 11.04 seconds, and inhale volume is 4650 mL.