My 2 year old (newly 2) is still messing with his food if I'm not like right on top of him when he eats. If I give him toast with jam for example and I am not directly staring at him while he eats (but still sitting near him) he will rip it up and squeeze it and make a huge mess. He will dump bowls of soup or cereal, he will smash his hand in ketchup. I'm right there next to him but I'll take a bite of my own food or something and he does it. It makes every single meal time miserable a d a hassle and I feel like I can't even eat. I just feel like he should be past this by now, I don't hear other people with kids his age doing this still.

Is this normal or is this behavior 'behind'? What can I do to help him get past this? I feel Ike I've tried ignoring I've tried correcting, nothing as worked. I hate getting upset with him but it really gets me going because it makes everything take so much longer than it needs to and I can't relax at all.