Salad "Oh, Shoot!"-ers
I've been making salad faces for Sparkle: three cherry tomatoes for a smile, two cucumber slices for eyes, a carrot nose all atop lettuce leaf, which makes a plate face and ruffly "hair." I was all pleased with myself for making an attractive, kid-friendly plate, and Sparkle ate up all her salad every night, making me happy about her nutrition.
I was using up veg, and did not make the face, because I had only 2 tomatoes and 3 round slices finished off a cucumber, and 2 baby carrots finished off a bag. I served up the remainders on lettuce.
And then, my pattern conscious Sparkle complained bitterly that I'd gotten the numbers of the vegetables all wrong from usual. "MOOOM-MA! It's Two Cucumbers, Three tomatoes and ONE carrot!" (cries).
I apologized for not making a face. And then, when Sparkle was totally confused, realized that my autistic child had never made the connection of the art of a face and her meal at all. Even after I showed her and labeled the parts, she did not "get" it. Which is typical of the difficulties faced by those on the spectrum. I just hadn't thought about it here.