Would you like cardboard with that?

She sat down on the couch to eat a bowl of dry uncooked noodles. On the coffee table was an in-progress jigsaw puzzle. I was watching carefully to see if she could actually chew and swallow those dry crispy noodles. Suddenly she leaned forward with her fork and scooped up four puzzle pieces -- border pieces! -- and was on the way to her mouth with them. I shouted her name. She looked up. "Are you going to eat those puzzle pieces," I asked. "They won't hurt me," she said. "But it will hurt the puzzle," I told her.

She took the fork down from her mouth and dumped the puzzle pieces into the bowl. It being Adam's puzzle, he moved close enough to keep an eye on things. For a long time, nothing happened. Eventually though, she made a move with the fork and Adam and I both jumped. She had missed the puzzle pieces, but I decided it was time to reach in and take them out of the bowl. She looked at Adam and me as if we were fuddy-duddies.