Eiona's Snail Shell Hunting

Last Sunday, as usual, we went to our village church for Sunday service. It happened that the women’s fellowship was holding a food sale to raise funds for their planned programs. While we enjoyed our chicken noodle soup, Eiona and her friend, who is about her age, were busy, not eating, but playing. They were gathering snail shell they found around the area.

At first, I tried to get Eiona to eat, but she wasn’t interested. So, I decided to eat first and planned to feed her later. Time flew by, and I finished two bowls of chicken noodle soup. A little while later, my mother and my wife joined us and enjoyed some chicken noodle soup from the food sale in the church’s open hall.

My wife also tried to convince Eiona to eat, but it didn’t work either, so we let her and her friend keep playing and searching for shells. Not long after, Eiona excitedly called out to me. “Papa! Papa! Look, I found lots of shells!” By then, I had finished eating and was just enjoying a cold drink. I counted more than 10 snail shell she had gathered. Eiona wanted to take them home, but her mom said no.

After I finished my meal, I tried again to get Eiona to eat, and this time, it worked. After washing her hands, I fed her the chicken noodle soup. It turned out she was quite hungry and finished her bowl quickly.

Sometimes, I think it’s best not to push kids to eat. Let them play until they’re tired, and eventually, they’ll get hungry and eat on their own. After supporting the church’s food sale, we went home full, though Eiona was a little sad that she couldn’t bring the shells she’d found. I comforted her, saying we could look for snail shell at home later.