Journey Beyond Survival

At our house we are doing something new. I thought we would wait for a couple more years, but these kids are driving me crazy they really seem ready. I think they will benefit, and I will benefit. It all started when someone said, "EW! Not again!" When I told them what was for dinner. For the umpteenth time. Rolling eyes, slumped forks, standoffs involving grouchiness on all sides, it was all too much. So instead of soliciting their suggestions-again-I put them in charge. That's right. I have a five year old in charge of my dinner this week. The rules are that they have to be healthy, and that they also have to be affordable. So after a round of shooting down, which is so much fun, of mac 'n cheese, ramen noodles, and brownies for dinner, they chose something I deemed Dinner. We made a list of what they needed. We went shopping. We practiced looking at nutrition labels. We checked out. Even Hubbend pitched in and made angel hair spaghetti last nig...

*photo by Norman Rockwell* Goal #1 for my Me So Hongry mini challenge was to FIX REAL FOOD . Apparently this is a bigger problem for me than I thought. Denial. Not just the name of a river in Egypt. I was thinking that I did just fine with this. I got a little busy sometimes, and picked up fast food. Also, there were a few days that I didn't have time to fix dinner and so we ate pantry scroungings. But I thought MOST OF THE TIME I got a great meal on the table. HA, HA HA HA. That is so NOT true. Sorry. I'll stop yelling at you with my type. I hadn't realized how badly off track I was until I began to track myself for this challenge. Really trying hard resulted in me getting 4 dinners on the table. Dinners that did not resemble even remotely my ideals. You know the ones. Freeze your eyeballs. Don't you dare let them roll! Yes, it is the Tasty Food, Real Food, and Simple Food. I'm heaving sighs of deep realization. Chickadee and her requisite li...

AFTER me will be perfect. I'm pretty darn sure. It's hard to set goals and not have a rosy tint in the background. When all the planets align, and the solar eclipse is complete, I'm sure I will be. I will never miss making Sit-Down Dinners. I will wear perfectly coordinated clothes in fabulous fashion. Just enough avant-garde to be unique, but not enough to stand out loudly. Also, my hair will be perfectly coifed. Chickadee will have all her supplemental therapy done. Every day. Three times. Of course it is a given that I will exercise and eat well. Of course. BEFORE me is to blame for all my misery. All of it. I am not innately late. Nor am I consistently lazy or an emotional eater. It is all BEFORE's fault. I'm sure AFTER me would have been able to handle everything I've been through perfectly. She wouldn't have caved in and become a mess. No. Never. LIES? Of course it's lies. I am not a coifer. I am late. Emotional Eater could hav...

I'm coming off a hard day. Pharmacy: 3 Me: 0 Yes, that is 3 visits to the pharmacy. Well, six if you count the before and after visits between my shopping. Still no meds for Chickadee. BLARGH! I was also conned into 2 friends' visits. One for Beansprout. Two boys high on life at the same time! Bad idea. Miss THANG had a friend too. Not bad, the friend was an angel. Miss THANG just got more thangy. THANGY. Yeah. Oldest child syndrome gone haywire. Poor little Chickadee fingerprinted her glasses until it was easier for her to see without them. Did I mention that I HATE grocery shopping? I hate making lists, I hate planning menus, I hate dragging two kids through the store. Rather I hate calling loudly (I don't admit to myself that I yell) through the aisles as Beansprout careens around corners and parks perpendicular. With Chickadee's stroller. So, you might have realized that My Dinner Making Goal was a bust this week. I'm going to have to do it agai...

* Me So Hongry is doing a mini challenge for the next seven weeks. She wants to lose 7 pounds in 7 weeks. I think that is a fabulous idea. I'm supposed to set mini goals. My self assigned topic for the day was food. I was thinking about how I don't cook when Hubbend is gone. It's a lot like my friend Traci says, "I'm not gonna fix you little rugrats my smoked salmon with gorgeous apple sandwiches because while you love them, you would be slightly happier with MAC & CHEESE!" I know the kids are happier when we just wing it and let things hang loose. Especially the rules. But, I am the Mother. I know better, and I ought to show them better. Not only will it help us be physically healthy, it will also be extremely beneficial to our relationships. So, my mini goal is to FIX REAL FOOD. And sit down to eat it. With a tablecloth. I'll be doing a bit less pantry rummaging and a lot more confronting my apparent fear of grocery carts. I'll be ...