Dinnertime is an interesting time of the day in our family. Unlike breakfast, which is choose-your-own menu from about three options, or lunch, which is generally predestined one way or another, dinner is the time when I make an all-out meal and expect my family to eat it. It's a chance to try new things, experiment with new food, and have some family togetherness. Joshua went through a picky stage, but he has discovered that most of the food I make is all right after all. Matthew eats anything if he's hungry, nothing if he's not. He's a classic 18 month old.
And then...there's Anna.
Anna has decided that she does not like anything but hot dogs, cheese, chicken nuggets, cheese pizza, berries, and milk. Well, and cookies, as you will soon see.
I don't know how she got this picky; we certainly don't cater to it. See, unlike breakfast, dinner at our house is not a request hour. I make what I make. If you don't want to eat it, that's your choice, but you are not getting anything else. I do not run a restaurant. I scour the Internet for healthy, kid-friendly meals. I don't make anything that the kids can't eat or shouldn't like. We don't let it become a power struggle with the kids, we just put our foot down about the fact that this is dinner: take it or leave it. Lately, Anna has been choosing to leave it.
Tonight I went to the grocery store right before coming home to make dinner, which as we all know, is a mistake, because if you go to the grocery store hungry, you will buy more food than you intended. Long story short, I came home with a sackful of cookies from the bakery - one for each kid who would eat their whole meal. (We don't do this very often at all; we're not a dessert family. Once in a while, though, a treat is fun.)
Dinner tonight was something we call Chicken Stir-Fry, for lack of a better term. It's just a little bit of olive oil, some cooked chicken breast, a bag of steamed frozen veggies, and a shaking of French's fried onions. Stir it up in a skillet, and bingo - dinner! It's pretty healthy, and the boys all LOVE IT. Joshua actually requests it. Anna, however, has decided that she does not like it, and she refuses to put a bite in her mouth.
I explained as we sat down that I had a surprise for anyone who finished their dinner. In due time the boys got to eat their cookies, and Anna, who had been refusing to eat all night, decided that she would give it a try if her daddy put the food in her mouth for her. Daddy, being a sucker for those deep blue eyes, agreed to help...but even then, Anna just could not bring herself to eat her dinner.
I left Anna and her daddy to battle it out and headed off to get Joshua's shower prepared. After a few minutes, Anna appeared at the bathroom door with a satisfied look on her face.
"Did you eat your dinner, Anna?" I asked, hoping but not expecting.
"Well...no. I'll just have my cookie tomorrow." Satisfied that she had found and answer to her problem, she went off to play with her dollhouse.
Hmmm. This was not the kind of behavior I wanted to encourage, so after a quick parental consultation, I went to Anna and explained that her cookie would not be available tomorrow.
"Anna, you can either eat your cookie now, or not at all. You can't have it tomorrow," I declared.
"Oh!" she answered. "I'll have it right now!"
"No, no, Anna," I said, thinking about how she will have a great future as a loophole-finding attorney. "You still have to eat your dinner to get the cookie."
"Well, I'll just have another cookie tomorrow," she answered, reasoning that if Mom (me) was saying no to this cookie, surely there would be more and different cookies available in the morning.
"No, Anna," I patiently countered. "There are no more cookies. This is it. Either come eat your dinner and your cookie, or have no cookie at all."
Anna's little brow furrowed, not angrily, but in a way that told me she was processing this information and trying to make it come out in her favor. Sensing that she was losing the cookie battle, she decided to take the high ground and make it all her idea to begin with. Putting one little hand on her hip and waving her hand through the air in a devil-may-care manner, she proclaimed:
"I don't need a cookie."
You know, this girl tells us almost every day that she wants to be a doctor...but I am thinking there are some lawyer years in her future.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Personalities
It never ceases to fascinate me how my children can have such unique personalities. Anyone who has read this blog with any regularity knows that Anna is, shall we say, a free spirit. Rules are more...suggestions in Anna's mind. Anna is going to do what she wants - the key with her is to teach her that she wants to make the right choice, that it is her idea in the first place.
Joshua, on the other hand, is a stereotypical first-born rule follower. If there is a rule, he doesn't need a reason for it, he is just going to follow it. He is a teacher's dream. (He also likes to point out when other people are NOT following the rules, which gets both hilarious and annoying.) The following story illustrates this point...
As you all should know by now, we have a precious corner of the day known as Quiet Time at our house. In addition to the quiet hour they must stay in their room, we have now added the element of an alarm clock. Every day, the two older kids head to their room, and we set the timer for an hour from the time they start. They can earn extra time for fighting or leaving the room early, so it's a pretty good system for getting them to stay in their room. Joshua, in particular, likes this system, because it gives him very specific parameters. He likes guidelines.
This past weekend, my husband was getting ready to go run some errands, and he decided to take the kids with him. There was about 15 minutes left of Quiet Time, so he stepped into the room and said, "Hey, who wants to go to the store with me?"
Anna, always willing for an adventure that gets her out of a restricted time, immediately responded "ME! ME! I WANT TO GO!!"
However, Joshua glanced at the clock, and with a tone of shock and horror, answered this way:
"But DAD! The ALARM hasn't gone off yet!"
It took several minutes and a lot of convincing from his father for Joshua to finally accept that it was, in fact, okay for him to leave Quiet Time early with his dad.
It will be interesting to see what these two turn out to be when they grow up!
Joshua, on the other hand, is a stereotypical first-born rule follower. If there is a rule, he doesn't need a reason for it, he is just going to follow it. He is a teacher's dream. (He also likes to point out when other people are NOT following the rules, which gets both hilarious and annoying.) The following story illustrates this point...
As you all should know by now, we have a precious corner of the day known as Quiet Time at our house. In addition to the quiet hour they must stay in their room, we have now added the element of an alarm clock. Every day, the two older kids head to their room, and we set the timer for an hour from the time they start. They can earn extra time for fighting or leaving the room early, so it's a pretty good system for getting them to stay in their room. Joshua, in particular, likes this system, because it gives him very specific parameters. He likes guidelines.
This past weekend, my husband was getting ready to go run some errands, and he decided to take the kids with him. There was about 15 minutes left of Quiet Time, so he stepped into the room and said, "Hey, who wants to go to the store with me?"
Anna, always willing for an adventure that gets her out of a restricted time, immediately responded "ME! ME! I WANT TO GO!!"
However, Joshua glanced at the clock, and with a tone of shock and horror, answered this way:
"But DAD! The ALARM hasn't gone off yet!"
It took several minutes and a lot of convincing from his father for Joshua to finally accept that it was, in fact, okay for him to leave Quiet Time early with his dad.
It will be interesting to see what these two turn out to be when they grow up!
Saturday, August 27, 2011
HOW DOES IT KNOW?!
My husband went on a trip for work this week. He is two time zones away. Even though his dad was coming down to help and I was in no way going to be winging it alone for the week, I knew in my heart of hearts that the inevitable was coming.
I was not disappointed.
You see, every mother knows there is a law of reality floating around out there in the universe that has to do with Daddy leaving town. They know that, without a doubt, within 48 hours of Dad's departure, at least one of the following things will happen:
1. A major appliance will completely crap out.
2. One of the children will come down with a raging fever.
3. Someone will start throwing up.
Sean left Monday morning. On Wednesday morning, the Law of Daddy Leaving Town (or LDLT) kicked in. Joshua woke up crying at 4:00 am. Thinking he was having a bad dream (I'm not real quick at 4am, otherwise I would have realized the LDLT was looming over my head), I stumbled into his room to comfort him. Instead of a scared kid in need of a hug, I found a miserable kid in need of a bath.
"I accidentally threw up!" he sobbed miserably.
(I don't know why he said accidently. It's possible he thought he would be in trouble. Joshua's not real with it at 4am either.)
I got him all cleaned up and put him in my bed so I could strip his. While I was Cloroxing his plastic matress cover, I kept thinking "maybe he just ate something. Maybe he just gagged. Maybe, just maybe this isn't the stomach flu."
Oh, to dream.
Within the hour, he had thrown up again, and before the day was out, the poor guy had lost it 5 times. What's worse, I am not in a position right now where I can stay home, so I had to leave a crying little boy ("But I want YOU to stay with me!!") home with his grandfather while I went off to school. Mom of the year, right here folks.
Thankfully, it was a 24 hour bug, and he was all normal by the next evening. None of the other kids have caught the bug, and I am so thankful that my FIL could be here this week...especially since my baby-sitter came down with the same virus a day later. God is good.
But that still leaves me with that all-important question...
HOW THE HECK DOES A STOMACH VIRUS KNOW THEIR FATHER WENT OUT OF TOWN?!
I was not disappointed.
You see, every mother knows there is a law of reality floating around out there in the universe that has to do with Daddy leaving town. They know that, without a doubt, within 48 hours of Dad's departure, at least one of the following things will happen:
1. A major appliance will completely crap out.
2. One of the children will come down with a raging fever.
3. Someone will start throwing up.
Sean left Monday morning. On Wednesday morning, the Law of Daddy Leaving Town (or LDLT) kicked in. Joshua woke up crying at 4:00 am. Thinking he was having a bad dream (I'm not real quick at 4am, otherwise I would have realized the LDLT was looming over my head), I stumbled into his room to comfort him. Instead of a scared kid in need of a hug, I found a miserable kid in need of a bath.
"I accidentally threw up!" he sobbed miserably.
(I don't know why he said accidently. It's possible he thought he would be in trouble. Joshua's not real with it at 4am either.)
I got him all cleaned up and put him in my bed so I could strip his. While I was Cloroxing his plastic matress cover, I kept thinking "maybe he just ate something. Maybe he just gagged. Maybe, just maybe this isn't the stomach flu."
Oh, to dream.
Within the hour, he had thrown up again, and before the day was out, the poor guy had lost it 5 times. What's worse, I am not in a position right now where I can stay home, so I had to leave a crying little boy ("But I want YOU to stay with me!!") home with his grandfather while I went off to school. Mom of the year, right here folks.
Thankfully, it was a 24 hour bug, and he was all normal by the next evening. None of the other kids have caught the bug, and I am so thankful that my FIL could be here this week...especially since my baby-sitter came down with the same virus a day later. God is good.
But that still leaves me with that all-important question...
HOW THE HECK DOES A STOMACH VIRUS KNOW THEIR FATHER WENT OUT OF TOWN?!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Anna's New Game
"Let's play Catch the Cow!"
"Ok, Anna, how do we play Catch the Cow?"
"It's a game where you have to catch the cows and put them on your back."
"Where's the cows?"
"Oh, I'M the cow, and there's only one cow in the game!"
This was a conversation Anna had with her daddy this weekend. What Anna calls a new game, I call a plot to get her father to give her a piggy-back ride.
"Ok, Anna, how do we play Catch the Cow?"
"It's a game where you have to catch the cows and put them on your back."
"Where's the cows?"
"Oh, I'M the cow, and there's only one cow in the game!"
This was a conversation Anna had with her daddy this weekend. What Anna calls a new game, I call a plot to get her father to give her a piggy-back ride.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Here's How It REALLY Happened...or Maybe Not
The kids have these little Spiderman figurines. One is bigger than the other, so Anna has dubbed him "Spiderman's Dad." Tonight, as we were waiting for her brother to get out of the bathroom (he takes longer than a teenage girl), she picked up both figures, crawled into my lap, and declared we were going to play with them.
"Hello Dad!" she made the little figure squeak.
"Hello Son," I intoned as the dad's voice.
"Let's go save some people!" declared Little Spiderman.
"Ok, let's go!" answered Daddy Spiderman.
Off they went, "flying" through the air and landing on the children's Bible sitting in my lap. (This should have been my first clue.)
"Oh no!" Little Spiderman said. "Some people are in trouble, we need to save them!"
"Ok!" answered Spiderman's Dad.
"They are in the fire!" cried Little Spiderman.
So Spiderman and his dad went trotting off across the book to save people from the fire.
To clarify, Spiderman's Dad said "They are in the fire?"
"Yes," Spiderman answered. "Shadrach, Meschach, and Abendago are in the fire."
At this point I broke in laughing and asked with my regular voice, "Shadrach, Meschach, and Abendago? That's who we're rescuing?"
"Yes," Anna answered firmly. Then a moment later, "Shadrach is out, but Meschach and Abendago are still in the furnace."
Laughing, I made Spiderman's Dad say, "Well, we better get them out."
Another moment passed, and then Anna said, "Ok, they're all out and they're coming to lunch with us."
Still laughing, I made Spiderman's Dad trot down my leg after Little Spiderman as far as I could. Then I asked, "What are we having for dinner?"
Anna thought for a moment, and then answered, "Bird's Nests."
(She's not being weird, Bird's Nests are a recipe I got from a friend's blog. Click here if you want to see it!)
As Spiderman and his dad traveled along my leg, Anna announced that we were going to the Bird's Nest Restaurant. Once we "arrived," she asked me what I wanted to eat. I told her bacon, simply because it was the first thing that came to mind. She thought for a moment, then decided "Yes, they have bacon here." I asked her what she was having, and she didn't even hesitate: "Ice Cream."
So, if you are keeping track, here are the changes to the Shadrach, Meschach and Abendago story:
1. They were rescued by Spiderman and his dad.
2. Meschach and Abendago almost didn't make it out.
3. Once everyone was rescued, everyone went out the lunch and ate bacon and ice cream.
Don't misunderstand - I am not an advocate for rewriting the Bible. But I can't help but think that Anna's Heavenly Daddy was laughing even harder at all this than I was!
"Hello Dad!" she made the little figure squeak.
"Hello Son," I intoned as the dad's voice.
"Let's go save some people!" declared Little Spiderman.
"Ok, let's go!" answered Daddy Spiderman.
Off they went, "flying" through the air and landing on the children's Bible sitting in my lap. (This should have been my first clue.)
"Oh no!" Little Spiderman said. "Some people are in trouble, we need to save them!"
"Ok!" answered Spiderman's Dad.
"They are in the fire!" cried Little Spiderman.
So Spiderman and his dad went trotting off across the book to save people from the fire.
To clarify, Spiderman's Dad said "They are in the fire?"
"Yes," Spiderman answered. "Shadrach, Meschach, and Abendago are in the fire."
At this point I broke in laughing and asked with my regular voice, "Shadrach, Meschach, and Abendago? That's who we're rescuing?"
"Yes," Anna answered firmly. Then a moment later, "Shadrach is out, but Meschach and Abendago are still in the furnace."
Laughing, I made Spiderman's Dad say, "Well, we better get them out."
Another moment passed, and then Anna said, "Ok, they're all out and they're coming to lunch with us."
Still laughing, I made Spiderman's Dad trot down my leg after Little Spiderman as far as I could. Then I asked, "What are we having for dinner?"
Anna thought for a moment, and then answered, "Bird's Nests."
(She's not being weird, Bird's Nests are a recipe I got from a friend's blog. Click here if you want to see it!)
As Spiderman and his dad traveled along my leg, Anna announced that we were going to the Bird's Nest Restaurant. Once we "arrived," she asked me what I wanted to eat. I told her bacon, simply because it was the first thing that came to mind. She thought for a moment, then decided "Yes, they have bacon here." I asked her what she was having, and she didn't even hesitate: "Ice Cream."
So, if you are keeping track, here are the changes to the Shadrach, Meschach and Abendago story:
1. They were rescued by Spiderman and his dad.
2. Meschach and Abendago almost didn't make it out.
3. Once everyone was rescued, everyone went out the lunch and ate bacon and ice cream.
Don't misunderstand - I am not an advocate for rewriting the Bible. But I can't help but think that Anna's Heavenly Daddy was laughing even harder at all this than I was!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Morning Bathroom Conversation with Anna
"I had a bad dream. It was about fire and had Larry Boy and Alfred in it. So I got in your bed and slept because my bed had a bad dream in it. Daddy woke up in your bed but he went back to sleep. So I went to sleep but then I waked up but Daddy was still sleeping and Joshua was asleep so I got up and I came in here. And that's all I got."
Sunday, August 14, 2011
A New Adventure Begins
Tomorrow marks a new chapter in my life of Mommyhood. Up to this point, I have been a stay-home mom. I've had a few periods of time away from my children, but for the most part, it's been me and Joshua...then me, Joshua, and Anna...and then me, Joshua, Anna, and Matthew. The four of us, marching through their childhood together.
That all ends tomorrow morning at 7:00 am.
For some time now - six years, in fact - I have been pursuing a dream. I have been working towards a Masters degree in Special Ed for the past six years with the eventual goal of teaching at the secondary level. Many life events have come during those six years - namely, the arrival of my three beautiful children! Through it all, though, I knew this was a calling God had placed on my life. I knew that eventually, I wanted to be out in the world, teaching those kids who need help the most. Even as I pursued this with great excitement and fervor, I knew that it meant that one day, this moment would come: when I would no longer be home with my kids all day.
It's a good time for this transition. Lots of changes happening. Joshua starts kindergarten this week. Anna starts preschool in a few weeks. Matthew, well, he's the most adaptable of the three, he'll just go with the flow. And Mommy is headed back to middle school for her student teaching semester. In December I will have my degree, and I will hopefully have some job prospects.
I know that I know that I know that this is where God has us a family. Everything has been aligned. My childcare situation is one I could have only dreamed about. I have scholarship and grants this semester to help with the costs. The kids have been prepared. All the details have come into place.
Beyond that, there is more that tells me this is the right place for us. I am ready to do something else. Let me be clear: I love my kids with a fierceness that frightens me sometimes. When I drop them off at my friend's house tomorrow, I am going to cry buckets. This is going to be difficult. However, I am ready to be out of the house. I am ready to pursue the dreams that God has given me. It's not that I don't enjoy being a SAHM. But I am ready for the next stage of life God has for our family. I know He is taking care of us, and I know He would not have placed this desire in my heart or brought us to this moment if it wasn't the best for our family.
At the same time...there is trepidation. How will I get along all day without those three smiling faces? I'm going to miss things. I will miss out on some of Anna's crazy antics. I will miss some first words of Matthew's. I will miss the spontaneous hugs that Joshua gives me just when he knows I need them. I will miss trips to the library, cuddling on the couch during cartoons, dancing in the living room with the music cranked. I also fear for them - how will they do with all this? Are they ready to be away from Mommy full-time? Am I ready to be away from them full-time?
And yet...it is time. When God says go...you GO!
So with fear and trembling and excitement, I face my last night at home (at least for a semester) as a SAHM. Tomorrow, I become a working mom. I am excited. I am thrilled. I am scared to death. But I know that my God is with me and has been and will continue to carry us through to the next phase in our family's life.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9
That all ends tomorrow morning at 7:00 am.
For some time now - six years, in fact - I have been pursuing a dream. I have been working towards a Masters degree in Special Ed for the past six years with the eventual goal of teaching at the secondary level. Many life events have come during those six years - namely, the arrival of my three beautiful children! Through it all, though, I knew this was a calling God had placed on my life. I knew that eventually, I wanted to be out in the world, teaching those kids who need help the most. Even as I pursued this with great excitement and fervor, I knew that it meant that one day, this moment would come: when I would no longer be home with my kids all day.
It's a good time for this transition. Lots of changes happening. Joshua starts kindergarten this week. Anna starts preschool in a few weeks. Matthew, well, he's the most adaptable of the three, he'll just go with the flow. And Mommy is headed back to middle school for her student teaching semester. In December I will have my degree, and I will hopefully have some job prospects.
I know that I know that I know that this is where God has us a family. Everything has been aligned. My childcare situation is one I could have only dreamed about. I have scholarship and grants this semester to help with the costs. The kids have been prepared. All the details have come into place.
Beyond that, there is more that tells me this is the right place for us. I am ready to do something else. Let me be clear: I love my kids with a fierceness that frightens me sometimes. When I drop them off at my friend's house tomorrow, I am going to cry buckets. This is going to be difficult. However, I am ready to be out of the house. I am ready to pursue the dreams that God has given me. It's not that I don't enjoy being a SAHM. But I am ready for the next stage of life God has for our family. I know He is taking care of us, and I know He would not have placed this desire in my heart or brought us to this moment if it wasn't the best for our family.
At the same time...there is trepidation. How will I get along all day without those three smiling faces? I'm going to miss things. I will miss out on some of Anna's crazy antics. I will miss some first words of Matthew's. I will miss the spontaneous hugs that Joshua gives me just when he knows I need them. I will miss trips to the library, cuddling on the couch during cartoons, dancing in the living room with the music cranked. I also fear for them - how will they do with all this? Are they ready to be away from Mommy full-time? Am I ready to be away from them full-time?
And yet...it is time. When God says go...you GO!
So with fear and trembling and excitement, I face my last night at home (at least for a semester) as a SAHM. Tomorrow, I become a working mom. I am excited. I am thrilled. I am scared to death. But I know that my God is with me and has been and will continue to carry us through to the next phase in our family's life.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9
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