What To Do About The Food

You know how you have all these grand ideas about parenting and about the type of child you will raise, and how that all vanishes about the time you spend your first night alone with your newborn?

Well, one of my BIG things, before I had children of my own, was that my kids were going to be good eaters. They would eat their veggies, they would love tofu, and they would not have (much) candy.

In fact, I was SO SURE of this, that I judged people who had picky eaters. Specifically, a couple of the kids in David's family. I was FULL of answers for those poor, uniformed parents. If only I could have a week with those kids, I'd have them eating.

Cut to our house, present-day mealtime.

BOY HOWDY. These girls of mine are decidedly NOT good eaters. Not even close.

First, we have the baby. (OK FINE, SHE'S TWO. Stop rubbing it in.) She eats cheese, fruit, and toast... and not much else. She does slug back an impressive amount of (soy) milk and juice though. Oh, and she can put away the mac-n-cheese. Seriously, she can eat more of it than you can. No, really.

To help her become a better eater, I've decided to start limiting her fluid intake. She is now allowed one (1) sippy cup of (soy) milk and one (1) small sippy cup of deluded juice per day. After those are gone, it's water only.

No more drinking all of her calories. I'm hopeful that this will make a big difference.

Next, we have the twins. They fuss and complain their way through every meal- coming to the table rudely complaining that "I don't like ____". It drives me crazy. Also, they bargain with us immediately after sitting down- "How many bites of ____ do I have to have before I can have some yogurt/bread/candy?"

They eat little to nothing if we are eating anyplace but home (even McDonalds!), and I'm doubtful they eat much during lunch at school.

For them, I think it's become more of a power struggle than a food thing. So from now on, we are not going to argue with them about food. We will put healthy food on the table, and if all they eat is bread, FINE. At least mealtime won't be a battleground.

Also, I'm cutting off the after-school snacking at 4pm SHARP. Unless they want carrot sticks. Or raw tofu. Otherwise, nothing more until dinner.

So I guess what I need to continue to learn/remind myself is that as parents, we sometimes need to take a step back and re-evaluate the method we are using. To be constantly adjusting the navigation system is tiresome, but maybe less so than continuing on a path that isn't going anywhere?

I think the food issue is so hard, especially when raising girls. From how I understand it, most eating disorders are more about control and less about food, so it seems V. V. Important to not mess it up. It's about so much more than eating your veggies.

Talk about pressure.

The Opposite of a Gratitude List

Well there's nothing else to say about it other than this: Migraines suck. I cannot think of another discomfort, save for the after-surgery nausea that seems to plague me for at least 12 hours each and every time I receive anesthesia, that is worse than having a migraine. And yes, I'm including childbirth and C-section recovery in that blanket statement.

I woke tired this morning, with a slightly stiff neck. After going about my day in a fairly normal fashion, I suddenly started feeling quite ill. I snarfed back a couple of Excedrin and picked up the girls from school. My vision blurred, and my stomach sent me a couple of meaningful threats. I tried to nap, but the caffeine in the Excedrin kept me alert and jittery. Besides, laying down makes me neck MORE sore, and somehow my neck pain is related to having migraines.

Currently, I have the Excedrin buzz that blissfully dulls the pounding pain. I think I took my blessed drugs just in time- I think this one is on it's way out. I will spend the rest of today feeling like I am on the brink of something terrible, and being anxious about the terrible coming to fruition.

To make matters worse, my grandma- my beloved, kick-ass, cooler-than-your-grandma, grandma wants me to somehow hook her up with Obama so that she can donate a puppy. I should mention that my grandma is THE coolest person I know- she has a terrific personality; she is smart and funny and witty; she is wise and honest and tactful; she is nothing short of the bees knees, really. But she's also getting old. And she honestly thinks that since I have a dear friend that lives in the DC area, a friend who years ago worked on the Hill, that I can get a personal message to Barack Obama that she has a champion-line Yorkshire Terrier puppy for his daughters.

You guys, she really believes that I can "pull some strings" for her. And for some reason, I do not know how to tell her that NO, I cannot contact Mr. Obama for he seems to be, oh, I don't know, THE MOST IN DEMAND PERSON in our country right now. And I do agree that adopting a puppy from a little old lady in South Dakota would make a good story, I think there are probably plenty of people offering up puppies for little Malia and Sasha. "Well, we can't focus on the competition" says Grandma. *SIGH*

Additionally, I have a work project that I need to finish but have been procrastinating, I have a doula client who deserves a phone call and her birth notes, and I have a toddler that is climbing all over me while simultaneously tapping out a beat on her toy drum and begging for a "paci, mommy, pwease mommy, paci probwy in-a drawer." And then she unplugs my cordless mouse.

Also: a slight headache that I'm nervous will get worse at ANY SECOND.

Oh, and before I go, I'd like to talk to you about your thermostat. I asked the question yesterday on Facebook- what do you set your thermostat at in the winter? And do you know that there are people that keep their house much cooler than we do? Our thermostat currently reads 67 degrees, and let me tell you- I am typing this with two (2) pairs of wool socks, and double thick fleece blanket, and my winter hat on. And I'm warming my hands on a cup of tea between sentences. It's cold in here, is what I'm saying. And yet... some have it at 65! And I'm quite sure the fella that said his was set to 62, AROUND THE CLOCK, is a big fat liar. A BIG FAT LIAR. That, or his entire family sits around the dinner table with hot potatoes in the pockets of their parkas.

62!

Oh, manna from heaven, my husband just got home- EARLY- for probably the second time in our marriage.

*weeping on the floor*

More Pictures: Halloween Costumes

So before we all start decking the halls and Fa-la-la-la-ing, I figured I'd better post some pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes. As promised.

I ended up letting them wear their brown boots with pink flowers (we already owned these- they were on Target clearance for only a couple of dollars last winter). Marin wore her brown mary-janes. I don't think the footwear distracted from the costumes as I previously feared.

I wish we had more good pictures, but they weren't exactly in the mood. Everyone knew exactly who they were supposed to be, so that was fun. The rag doll and school books were fun props for them. If only we had some metal lunch pails- that would have been PERFECT to collect candy in.

Yesterday

Oh, Hai! I have a blog!

I have much to write about, which I hope to do more of this month, but for now, how about some pictures of the beautiful snow we awoke to yesterday? Yes? Ok...

I love the black against the white sky.

She was entralled by making tracks. And for once, we were in no hurry, so I just let her take her sweet time.

Our house and crab apple tree. That tree just never ceases to be beautiful.

Does anyone else want a taste of those berries? Just a little lick, perhaps?

He's not too happy about the snow. He feels it's humiliating, and that he wishes a rogue teen would steal him and smash him, so he could have an honorable death.

I call this one "Portal".

Many of the trees around here are bare of leaves, but others like these still have greenery.

I love the pops of green beneath the snow.

This fence is along the path to the girls' school.

So how long do you suppose our pumpkins will rot on the stoop before we get around to tossing them out? Where are your jack-0-lanterns right now?