Parents everywhere know what life is trying to feed a toddler.
They don't have the longest attention spans so getting any sort of meal into them is tough - most of it usually ends up on the floor.
But hold on, science has some good news for us frazzled parents.
According to Dr. Larissa Samuelson, a psychology professor in the U.K, it means good things.
She authored a study where 16-month-olds were presented with foods and assigned them fake names, then offered the same foods in different sizes and shapes moments a few minutes later.
Who performed best?
The toddlers who were the messiest, that's who.
For little ones, mealtimes can be a bit of a sensory overload as there are different textures and smells.
This is where they learn about new flavours and things like spitting are all part of the process for toddlers to figure out what they like and don't like.
So - messiness is a good thing as it shows that they are embracing feeding themselves.
