Eating Disorder

I made the mistake of mentioning at dinner the other night that hot dogs are among the most dangerous foods for small children because they could be a choking hazard. Kemper now is completely paranoid about choking, refused to eat another bite of his hot dog that night, and now worries about every bite he takes. Last night he took one bite of his hamburger, chewed it for at least 10 minutes, then went and spit it out in the bathroom trash can. When I asked him why, he said he was worried he would choke on it.

Now, this kid loves meat. He particularly likes hamburgers. I'm not sure if it's because I served it on a hot dog bun (the burger ones were moldy), and that made it too similar to a hot dog, or what. And never mind that he has actually choked before and thought nothing of it after the fact.

Of course, there's always the possibility (probability?) that this is all for my benefit. He seems particularly interested in pushing my buttons these days, so this wouldn't surprise me. And he's eating lunch at school, so he's not starving or anything. Then again, all I know for sure is that the lunch box is coming home empty and he says he ate it all...