The Eating Rug

Growing up, we were never allowed to eat on the living room furniture...but how the heck is a kid supposed to eat junk food and watch tv at the same time if they can't sit on the couch?!

Mom's solution was putting down old worn-out quilts that we so lovingly called "The Eating Rug."

At the time it was super annoying...and I'm pretty sure we tried to "forget" to put it down as often as possible.  After all, it was just carpet and you could just grind any crumbs down into the fibers ;-)

Fast forward to adulthood and our child--aka Mitzi--has developed a super annoying habit.

I really didn't notice it until we had company in town for New Year's Eve...Erin pointed out that Mitzi would carry a mouthful of food from the mudroom to the dining room, drop it on the area rug and then start eating it.  Looking back, I assumed she was doing it for attention and/or she wanted everyone to know that she was eating her doggy food (and not people food for once).

I was wrong--Ever since Erin pointed it out, I have come to notice that she does it ALL the time.

We tore apart the kitchen & mudroom last night so we decided to move Mitzi's food bowl to the guest room for the time being.  And guess what?!

The picture is a bit busy but she was bringing mouthfuls of food from the bedroom into the dining room and eating it off of the area rug.  The funny part--I bought a little kitchen rug for her food bowl several months ago and I guess it's not the same as the area rug.  Who would have expected that all these years later I would have my own "Eating Rug" in the house!