Our Big Catch!

Oldest and I caught the ugliest looking thing but boy, was he pleased. Here's a picture of our catch.



The fish is called a toadfish- ugly color, green eyes the color of something toxic.


We fished for about an hour and enjoyed some quite time together. We saw dolphins playing in the water and enjoyed the quite time together. When you have a large family (crap, do I really have a large family?), it's important to have one-on-one interaction with each child. The little kids (we used to call them the babies, *sniff) take up so much of our energy and Oldest's patience.

What do you do to spend one-on-one time with your children?

Love Without Bias

Last night hubby invited me to watch a sports documentary with him (yuck!, I thought; but since you asked, sure…why not, I thought). I don’t watch sports, so you can only imagine my enthusiasm to watch a sports-related documentary. I was rather pleased that I took him up on his offer because I was moved by this film. It was a reminder of so many things about life and I encourage you to catch “Without Bias” the next time it appears on ESPN.

The film documented the tragic death of rising basketball star and local DC-area legend Len Bias. Apparently, Len Bias was destined to outshine Michael Jordan; he was on fire and had been drafted (maybe even Number 1 drafted) by the Boston Celtics - he apparently was going to be their savior! The film chronicled his skills and talent as a college basketball star and showed clips of the excitement that he caused in Boston and in the DC-area. As it turns out, the night upon returning from Boston (and incidentally, signing a deal with Reebok) he partied a little too hard and a little too long and mixed alcohol and cocaine and died.

His death triggered an entire series of events, some were directly tied while others were outgrowths of the tragedy, including the FBI investigating the local DC drug trade, Congress’ war on drugs, mandatory minimum sentences, increased awareness of athletes' drug use, the eventual downfall of one of DC’s biggest drug lords and maybe even the Marion Barry sting.

The most heart-wrenching part of the story for me was to watch his mother go through the unthinkable. I broke down in tears because I just couldn’t imagine how a person could withstand such heartache. Despite my horror, his mother was strong, composed, organized and in control. She stated that she knew death was coming, and she was prepared for it. She discussed her faith in God and her understanding that her son was in a better place. Strangely though, she also discussed the fact that she hadn’t understood and appreciated who “he” was and didn’t understand the world that he was in.

It was a cautionary tale and a welcomed reminder to stay strong in your faith because anything could happen at any second. It was a reminder to love your child at every moment because that child is a gift from God. It was a reminder that regardless of your child’s age, as a parent, that person will always be your child. It was a reminder to always keep the lines of communication open with your children because you could be the only person to offer a life line in times of trouble. It was a reminder that things could always be worse so be thankful for the graces that you have now.

There were so many other reminders for me about my life and my family’s trials and tribulations. And who would have thought that I would have gained a little more insight about life from watching ESPN! Thanks hubby for the invitation; I appreciate it.

Because Daddy Says I Can

I'm sure you've seen these JuiceBoxJungle ads in your internet travel - they're everywhere! Well, one reason we signed on to host these ads is because their episodes are really thought-provoking and touch on some of the real issues facing parents out here.

I meant to post about episode "Grandma Says I Can" for a while now, but I just couldn't find the time. There is a new episode online now (see sidebar) about another very interesting issue - pacifiers or not.

But, back to the point at hand...my issue isn't grandma it's hubby. Watch the episode below and replace "grandma" with "hubby" and tell me what you think.

I am the iron fist in our house while daddy is fun daddy. That's great for princess because fun is always around, but it vilifies me because I come in like clouds on a sunny day. It is getting better, I must admit, as hubby tries to stand behind my decisions more, but it's still an issue.

Have you faced a similar issue? How did you handle it? Let a mama know because I'm lost with this one...

More parenting videos on JuiceBoxJungle

A little woman

I just put princess to bed after her second wakening tonight. Usually, by this time of night (a little after 10 pm) I'm pretty annoyed by these "surprise visits". I usually take a hard stance and either scream (okay, shout a bit) or threaten to take away a toy/stuffed animal/book. But tonight was a little different.

I went up with her and sat in my glider with her on my lap and I rocked her for a while. Actually, I rocked her until I started to cry. While rocking, I pat her butt and stroked her arm and played with her hair. I was reminded that she's just a little baby! She was so vulnerable and sweet and although she is almost 4 years old and well over 3 ft tall, she's still a baby.

I tend to forget that a lot. I treat her more like a little woman - I'm usually really stern and harsh (although she really doesn't listen to me). I reason with her and I expect her to know better (ALL.THE.TIME). I've reflected on my tone with her before, wondering whether I was just too hard. Then I brushed the thought off reasoning with myself that I needed to be logical and reasonable and stern because there really is no other way that I would get her to grow up to be a rational and reasonable and strong woman, right? I have to be strong for her to be strong!

Then tonight I felt so sad because that could not be the way. It can't be the way because she's just a baby. I've got to check myself and remember that I have to find a way to teach her to be strong but I've got to do it in a way that she knows that I love her. Teaching a girl to be a strong AND loving woman is a lot more difficult than I thought. I figured that any woman could teach another to be a woman. But my tone and way with her may succeed in raising a strong woman but there is little hope that I would nurture a loving one and what success would that be?

Another Working Mom Bites the Dust....?

Hopefully by now everyone has heard that Gov. Sarah Palin has decided to resign as Governor of Alaska. Taking over at the end of this month will be Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell. News reports state that her decision was made after she decided not to run for re-election and motivated in part by a "higher calling." What that higher calling is, who knows, maybe hopes for a higher office in 2012?

Whatever her decision, she made a reference to some mean spirited comments made about her youngest son, Trig. Why any person would make mean comments about any child, especially one with down syndrome, is beyond me and appalling. But here is my question. Would a father resign from the highest political office in his state and site mean spirited comments towards his child as part of his reason? Even if it's a tiny part? I think not. Is this a decision that only a working mom would use? I think yes.

Palin's story makes me question whether a woman can be accomplished in her career and a happy parent all at the same time? Regardless of your career, whether it's an attorney making partner at the firm, teacher turned principal, real estate agent turning broker, it seems like once you move up your career ladder, the consequences it has on your family are great. As a result, many women seem to retire or step back from her high demanding job.

Is this always the case for working moms, or is it just sometimes the case? What do you think?

One look was all I needed

Princess is absolutely driving me crazy right now. I am so frustrated that I want to give her back! (Nana…you better come for her soon). She’s not listening and what’s worse is that she’s being really purposeful in her actions, if not outwardly defiant. We had it out last night – she didn’t want to sit at the “adult” table, so we let her sit at her little table, then she only wanted to watch tv and not eat because “I don’t like that!”, so I turned off the tv and asked (read told) her to eat. Lo and behold instead of eating little missy decided to color – on our cream chaise. Yes. color! I was so angry with her when I glanced over her way and noticed what was going on that I literally jumped over my chair to get to her.

My response, however, was not comparable with my level of anger and I wonder whether I’m sending her the wrong message. As you can tell from my athletic moves, I was pretty angry. But, when our bodies actually got close to each other all I could do was give her a little, tiny, itsy-bitsy, wimpy slap on her hand and then send her to her room.

I am from Trinidad, where I grew up getting a few spankings (the real ones) that set me straight for life. I knew not to cross my mom, aunts and definitely not my grandmother. I probably “knew” that because I had experienced one or two “lickings” (as we call it), so that I knew that one look was enough to let me know that I was on a slippery slope. I think I turned out a pretty well adjusted and responsible woman and I am sure that my respect for authority helped in my molding.

Now, fast-forward thirty-something years and I know it’s not socially accepted to spank kids and I try my best not to. I can't yet say whether it's the right or wrong thing because that's another discussion. But, I understand that spanking is not the way to discipline a child and I accept that I need to explore alternate disciplinary methods. I have been trying those methods – time out, counting to three, taking away toys, reducing privileges. But, yet in my heart I feel like she needs to get that one good spanking that will make her appreciate and understand the alternative disciplinary methods better.

Yet, when I was called to the mat, I flaked. In retrospect, that opportunity yesterday was the perfect time for me to lay the law and get her to understand that my words should be more than enough. Clearly my intelligent side got the better of me and I refrained from releasing my wrath – and that, I am very proud of.

But, this morning I was again faced with resistance and it makes me so frustrated at the terrible twos/threes and disappointed in myself because I can’t seem to get a hold of this situation. I’ve got to figure it out – I need some suggestions please.

Preschool Dropout

So remember how Giggles has been going through a rough patch? For the past month or so, there has been a definite change in her behavior. She stopped wanting to go to ballet class, so we didn't make her go anymore. Then she started having potty accidents, which she never did before. She potty-trained super early (i.e. 27 months) and never looked back. Until now. And then last month, she decided that she didn't want to go to school anymore. We let her stay home a day here and a day there, and once she was at school she was totally fine and had fun. But she increasingly became more and more adamant about wanting to stay home. So we let her.

I figure she's still so young (she just turned 3) and she gave preschool a try for a good 6 months. She was doing wonderfully (writing her name, counting numbers, etc.) but I don't want to push her. After all, some kids don't go to school until Kindergarten. Maybe it was too much for her too soon. And I strongly believe that you have to know your child's personality and nuture it. But the director of the school, while supportive of our decision to keep her home, thinks that we should make her go to school because sometimes "parents have to push their babies out of the nest and let them fly." And I agree with her to a point. But I figure there's plenty of time for Giggles to her head back in the "school game." For now, she's soooo happy at home - playing to her heart's content and going for walks and entertaining her little brother - that I feel like she is flying...at her own speed.

Play date - why? what?

We're about to have our first play-date with a classmate from school. You ask how we've managed to avoid this - I really don't know. But, it feels so completely different than when my girlfriends visit. I don't even know the parent involved (Hubby set it up) and I feel like it's a big test. What will we talk about? Will we even have anything in common? How are we supposed to entertain the parent while the kids play? Do we drink? Do we watch tv? What!?!?!?!?!?!? I'll update you when it's all said and done.

Update - It wasn't as bad as I thought. We talked about the kids and what was going on with each in terms of milestones etc. We (more the other mom) basically followed the kids around the entire time. We did drink however - we both had a glass of wine. But, I really thought a play date would be good in terms of getting daughter out of our hair for a little while because she and her friend would play with each other. Instead it was like having a play date for us because both hubby and I were forced to entertain playdate's mom the entire time. She was pleasant and conversation was easy - but, really, I just hadn't expected that. I guess it's one thing if it's your friend but when its the first time meeting someone and you're forced to find stuff to talk about for 2 - 3 hours...that's another story.

Coming Up For Air

Having a newborn in the house has been hectic...fun...but hectic! (Did you catch that Mommy Guilt Reflex?) And so naturally, blogging fell by the wayside. But, things are finally settling down and I'm back on the block. Or blog, as it were. And I have so many things to post about.

First things first - here are some recent photos of my bambino. He's so cute and cuddly, if not a little lacking in the sleeping department (at night anyway).

The other question I get asked the most (after "how's the BABY?!") is "how are the girls adjusting to their new baby brother?" Up until this week I was answering "fine!" or "great!" or "they just adore him!" But for some reason, this week all that changed...I guess they realized that he is here to stay. Giggles started getting unusually whiny last week, but now it's on a whole other level. Everything is grounds for a meltdown: not enough ice in her drink; a broken blue crayon; the ending of the Dora episode - you name it. The worst of it though, comes when it's time for the nanny to leave everyday. It's likely because she gets the nanny's undivided attention all day long while evil, old Mom has to constantly nurse, change, and hold that doggone baby. But seriously, Giggle wails and screams and tries to run out the door when the nanny leaves. It was so heartbreaking that the nanny even offered to take Giggles with her for the night. She usually calms down within 15 minutes or so, but it's really nuts.

[And before you start rolling your eyes at me for having a nanny while I'm home - know that I am only home for 3 lousy months on unpaid maternity leave, and will be needing the nanny for the baby once I go back to work, so that's why she's still here. And yes, I am fortunate.]

Then there's Chatterbox. She's really been doing fine until yesterday. Up until then, she has been very helpful with the baby and very loving towards him. But, yesterday the nanny was going to take the girls to the park as she often does, but Chatterbox had her own meltdown! She screamed and wailed that she didn't want to go and that she wanted to stay HOME! WITH! MOMMY! And then proceeded to dramatically change her mind three more times. She ended up staying with me and we made cupcakes for the neighbors together. It was fun. And I could tell she was happy. (I suspect Giggles was happy too, to have the nanny all to herself at the park.) And so all's well that ended well.

And I imagine the adjustment to the new baby will take some time. My "Mom to 3" advisors (Justice Jones and my SIL) have told me that the transition will not be easy and that the best thing I can do is spend one-on-one "Mommy Time" with each of them indivudally. I've already started doing this and am looking forward to next week when the girls' gymnastics classes start. They are going to be in different classes on different days and so we'll be able to talk in the car, to and from the class, and maybe we'll go to lunch afterwards or something like that, just the two of us. Giggles' class is a "Mommy and Me" class, so that will be even more great.

And right on cue, the Babe is whimpering for me through the baby monitor, so that ends my blogging time for today. See you next time on the New Adventures of Old Justice Fergie.

This season's gonna be good.

Like mommy like baby

This is my conversation with DD as we are driving home this evening:

Me: How was your day?
DD: Huh?
Me: How was your day today DD?
DD: Huh?
Me: No more "huhs".

About 5 minutes later...

DD: Mommy, how was your day?
Me: Huh!?!?!?!?
DD: Mommy..........no more huhs!!!!!

I guess I see where she gets it from :)

So Tell Me How You Really Feel...

Yesterday I was leaving church and (of course) had to make a pit stop in the ladies' room. My church is relatively small and I pretty much know everyone, but there was an older lady in there that I hadn't seen before. She smiled and asked if this was going to be my first child and I told her that it was actually going to be my third. She was congratulatory and all the rest, and then started asking how I was feeling, etc. Anyway, somehow I ended up telling her that I worked full time and that's where the conversation went down hill...

She immediately said "OH. You work." And that's when I knew where the conversation was headed. She then went on to say "People usually get angry with me for saying this but, I don't understand why women who work have children. It doesn't make any sense that you would leave your child with a stranger. My husband and I were married 14 years, until he passed, and I am proud to say that my children never spent a day in anyone else's care." And on. And on. Of course I'm paraphrasing based on what I remember, but you get the gist. She even went on to say that she knew of a woman who had a baby and returned to work after 6 months. She told the woman "Well, what was the point of having a baby if you were going to leave her after 6 months?" She also said that "if every woman did what the Bible said and took care of the home like she is supposed to, she would not need to work."

Yup. She did.

So at this point I'm deciding whether it's worth defending my position, or if I should just be polite, smile and leave. It was odd because on the one hand I don't necessarily disagree with her. On the other hand, I wanted to explain to her that all women don't always have the luxury of not working outside of the home (not to mention those who just choose to). So I basically told her that, while she was blessed to have been able to stay home with her children, not everyone can afford to do that and that just because a woman must work doesn't mean that she should not experience the blessing of having children. I didn't want to be rude (even though I thought that she was rude), and I left it at that. She said that she would "pray for me" that one day I could stay at home with my children. I thanked her and got out of dodge.

Sheesh. Next time I'll just hold it until I get home.

Play at my house - why don't you?!?!?

I have a similar situation that Justice Jones had a few weeks ago about playdates - in this case, it's not really a date - and therein lies the problem!

There is a little boy who lives a couple houses down the street from us and he's about a year older than DD. The little boy "J" is ALWAYS outside. It absolutely drives me crazy - 10 am in the morning, he's outside, 3 pm in the afternoon, he's outside, 9 pm at night - J's outside (are you sensing my annoyance yet????). Anyway, because he's always outside DD always wants to play with him. It was fine during the winter because they would see each other periodically and play outside for a few minutes because it would eventually get too cold for DD and she would come inside. Anyway, now that the weather is great, we are greeted at the car by J - literally! Before I can even get out of the car, J is standing there...waiting. It's a little inconvenient because there are times that DD has not yet eaten and J is there waiting for us. And of course, as soon as DD sees J she forgets that she's hungry or needs to be changed. So, it definitely is hampering my ability to get my child in the house to start the evening routine. What really bugs me as well is that his family says absolutely nothing about it (Gripe # 1).

At first, DD and J would play outside and call it quits after about an hour or so -- That was totally fine with me. Sometimes, I even encouraged J to join DD is her playroom in our house because that gave me the flexibility to get dinner started or watch the news or whatever my heart desired. I much preferred them playing in the play room than outside because of all the safety issues that can occur when they are outside.

Anyway, DH allowed DD to go to J's house to play. A decision that had me uneasy, but not necessarily upset. I was never allowed to go to other people's houses to play when I was a child - so I'm a little tainted in my view of this practice. But because DH was not as 'protected' as I was, he didn't really see a problem with the home-visits. So, I let it go. But, recently I started feeling more uncomfortable with it - mainly because I don't particularly like the fact that J's family will let him come over to our house without asking any questions or even checking on him. I don't agree with their parenting style and I wonder what kind of supervision my 2.5 yr old is getting when she goes over to their house. So, I talked to DH about my concerns and although he doesn't agree he said he would refrain from allowing her over there.

Now, back to the issue...because I don't want DD at J's house, J has been invited to our house. However, J has an older cousin "JJ". She's about 5 years old and they are always playing together. JJ does not live with J but she visits almost every afternoon. So, now we have the issue of not only J coming over to our house, but JJ is coming too. To be honest, we have never really invited JJ - she just tags along because J is coming over. The problem is that JJ is much older than DD and she tries to boss DD around and she wreaks havoc on our playroom. She trashes a lot of the toys and she plays with things that we restrict and then she tries to go walking through our house rather than playing in the playroom and we don't allow that. (Gripe #2).

I know this sounds like I'm over-reacting but I don't want to be mean to a child, but JJ just doesn't listen and is a little harder to control than J. Of course, there is always a little bit of hesitation in exercising control over someone else's child and as a parent, I don't want to be forced to be too firm with JJ but that's what it's coming to. Also, with JJ around J becomes more difficult to handle as well. So.....JJ really changes the dynamic of the playtime. I don't want to be mean, but I don't want her coming over to my house. What do I do? How do I handle it? Any advice......

Teenage Angst. About 12 Years Too Soon.

Ok, so I expected to run into the drama and misery of my daughters' teenage years sooner or later...just not when she was 3 1/2 years old. Lately, Chatterbox is unhappy about, well, everything. I noticed that it began a week or so ago when she started insisting on wearing the same pair of jeans every.single.day. Also, I bought a brand new pair of adorable shoes and she absolutely refuses to wear them, but only wantes to put on her broken down old shoes from last fall. So getting dressed in the mornings became a battle. Then came Alexa.

Alexa is an older girl in Chatterbox's class that had "big ties" (meaning braids) in her hair. Oh and Alexa wears flip flops to school. Well, between those two fashion statements, Alexa has quickly become Chatterbox's fashion muse. She was upset (and I mean UPSET) everyday last week when I did her hair and it did not look like Alexa's. And she was further upset by the fact that I wouldn't let her wear flip flops to school. I mean, not only are they impractical for running on the playground, etc., but I believe that there is a time and place for flip flops and school isn't one of them. So on Friday I had the woman who braids their hair on occasion come over to see if we couldn't hook Chatterbox up with some "ties." She was excited and I was relieved. Only to find out that the braids the woman gave her were not "BIG!" "LIKE ALEXA'S!" And so we were back to the sour face. Then she kicked and screamed when we were getting ready to go to brunch for Mother's Day yesterday because she didn't want me to put any bows in her hair. Nor did she want to wear the outfit that I had picked out. And of course, she wanted to wear flip flops too, but aside from the fact that she would have looked nuts, it was cold and rainy and that wouldn't have made any sense. Really, it was so bad that my morning was almost ruined. Hubby had to have a talk with her to calm her down like only he can.

And don't get me started on the regular meltdowns we have in the kitchen over what she does and doesn't want to eat.

Just what on earth is going on with her? I spoke to my mom and a couple of friends about it and they all seem shocked that she is so opinionated and looks-conscious at such a young age. I'm going try spending some more one-on-one time with her and maybe talking to her teacher to make sure nothing out of the ordinary is going on at school. I'm hoping it's a (short) phase, because Lord only knows I can't be going through this for the next 12 years.

Maybe I can move in with Alexa.

Seeing Double

Two completely unrelated things:

(1) I found out why the nanny needed to take yesterday off - she was interviewing for a part-time nanny position that she will likely accept. The catch? It's from 6pm to 12am, 4 days a week! I immediately felt horrible. As a WOHM, I am completely sensitive to the how moms feel when they are forced to sacrifice quality time with their kids in order to pay the bills. She must feel terrible to have to miss the evenings with her 12-year-old daughter. And her daughter must be upset too. Not mention that her days will be exhausting. How I wish we could pay her more so that she wouldn't need to work a double shift.

(2) Speaking of double, I swear that when I looked in the mirror today I saw a DOUBLE CHIN. I almost fainted. I just asked my co-worker and she says I'm seeing things and that I'm wearing the pregnancy very well, but she's clearly lying to be nice. I. Saw. It.

Ugh.

Our Latest Assignment

The homework assignments keep 'a comin' I tell you.

After having us create a poster board for Chatterbox's "Star of the Week" presentation week before last, and then tie-dye a square for her classroom's Black History Month quilt last week, you would think the school would lay off of the homeworks assignments for a little while, but alas Friday she came home with an unassuming blue tote bag filled with goodies...and instructions for Mom and Dad. This one was easy enough though. Each student takes turns bringing home the "Dino Book Bag" and has to read the story and take a photo with the person they normally read stories with, and, of course, the stuffed dinosaur. By the time I remembered the assignment we were all (yes, me too) in our pajamas and ready for bed. So, here was our end product:

Good thing for digital cameras and HP printer paper!

Into the Mouths of Babes

Alrighty, I have a confession to make.

Giggles sucks her thumb.

And it's gotten progressively worse. At first she only used to suck it on occasion, but lately, chances are that she sucking it more often than not. It really doesn't bother me all that much. I know that possibility of braces looms in our future. But it doesn't drive me nuts and I'm not a stickler for making her stop.

Enter hubby.

He is always after her to "take her thumb out of her mouth." I think he is particularly insane about it because he sucked his thumb for an embarassingly long time as a child. Whatever the reason, it's starting to cause tension between us. He makes her cry when trying to stop her habit and I hate that. Why can't he just let her be? She's only 18 months old. Am I being too lenient? What should we do?

Anyone have any advice?

Bullies In Our Backyards

Ok y'all, so I had to post something about this story. Something.

By now you’ve all heard about the incident that occurred at the University of Maryland a week ago. Apparently some students thought it would be funny (and/or intimidating) to hang a noose from a tree outside of the University’s Cultural Center. This hate crime no doubt stemmed from the tragic state of affairs currently playing out in Jena, Louisiana. And it’s really too outrageous and draining for me to summarize the Jena mess in this post, so if you haven’t already heard about it (which would be a shame in and of itself), please click here to find out more. Oh and while you're at it, don’t forget to read about the fliers that were distributed in Manassas,VA a couple of weeks ago... Are you nauseous yet?

Aside from my general disbelief that hate crimes are still being perpetrated in this day and age, I find that it even scarier for me, as a mother of two small children, to know that one day my kids are going to sent out into the world without me or my husband around to shield them from all of this madness. I mean, in the case of the Jena students – all they were doing was sticking up for themselves. Isn’t that what we teach our kids? To be confident and proud of who you are and to stand up for what you know is right? What if that was my child who decided that she wanted to sit where she wanted to sit at school without regard to her skin color, and with the permission of her teachers, and before she knew it, she was threatened, assaulted and eventually thrown in jail? I can’t even fathom it.

If you think about it, it’s really just a heightened form of bullying. My eldest daughter just started nursery school last week so thankfully we haven’t encountered the bullying issue just yet, but I’m sure some of you parents out there have. In fact, I know that the decision to homeschool for some parents comes, in part, from the fear of bullies at school. And bullying has become an epidemic in our country – just do a quick search on Google and you’ll find a jillion news stories, web sites and initiatives, like this one, on how to deal with it. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I do know that the problem won’t solve itself. There has to be a collective effort on the part of parents to educate their children on how to treat others; on the part of teachers to spot and discourage bullies in the classroom or on the playground; on the part of the school administration to develop zero-tolerance policies for bullying; and on the part of the justice system to do the same. And this effort needs to be applied across the board – from preschool to university to the workplace and beyond.

I’m just not sure what my part is as a parent raising young children – should I be teaching them to stand up for themselves…but not too much, for fear of retaliation? Should I teach them to just look the other way when they see someone else being bullied to avoid making trouble? What I am sure of is that we can't let this be the state of the world that we’re living in. We just can’t.

Because nobody likes a bully.

This entry is cross-posted on the DC Metro Moms Blog.

That's What Friends Are For

The only thing worse than having a stomach virus is taking care of a toddler with a stomach virus.

You do not want to hear the details. Trust me.

Instead I will post a couple of my favorite freeze-ahead recipes for my friend Jenibeans who is having her fifth baby in less than 6 weeks! Really, she deserves more than a measly recipe or two - more like a YACHT or some such lavish gift. But, in the interest of making life a smidge easier for her family when the baby arrives, here goes...

Fergie's Famous Taco Casserole

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey (or beef, but turkey is leaner)
1 can black beans
1 can corn kernels
1 can diced tomatoes (I like the Italian ones)
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
1 packet taco seasoning (I like McCormick's)
A few tortilla chips

yellow rice (I like Goya's)

Instructions:
Brown the meat. Drain if necessary. Stir in taco seasoning. Add beans, corn and tomatoes (you can also add any other veggie that your family likes) and combine. Transfer to casserole dish. Top with shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips. Bake at 4oo degrees for 20 minutes (or until top is golden and cheese is melted). Serve with yellow rice.

*Freeze-Ahead Tip: I would prepare the casserole up until the veggies and freeze it. Whenever you're ready to eat it, let it defrost, add the cheese and tortilla chips and bake.

AllRecipe.com's Chicken Florentine Casserole
My family just loved this dish. And I imagine it would freeze well.

McCormick's Chili
Just follow the directions on the packet. Add a side of rice or even just some Tostitos and it's a wrap. This is one of my old faithfuls. Freezes beautifully.

Finally, I found this post from a while back when I made a week's worth of freeze-ahead meals. If you like the sound of any of the dishes, just let me know and I'll email you the recipes.

And now back to our regularly scheduled vomiting programming.

Wasn't that lovely? A post discussing both stomach viruses and dinner recipes. CLASSY.

The Art of Scheduling

Tracey over at More Than a Minivan Mom wrote this post on Monday. It was so funny that I just had to post here for y'all to read. If you want to read it over at Tracey's, click here.


Monday, August 27, 2007

Negotiations

(after reading the e-mail from Sam's soccer coach. Did I mention that Sam is doing soccer?)

Me: "Can you leave work on Thursdays in time to get Sam to soccer practice at 5:30pm?"

Rich: (looking at me like I'm speaking Cantonese) "Soccer practice? At 5:30? You realize that I would have to leave work by 4:30 to do that?"

Me: "Well, I'm in Temple for clinical on Thursdays. How am I supposed to get back from Temple in time to get him to practice for 5:30?" (for those of you non-Texans, Temple is 50 miles north of me)

Rich: "But I already have to leave work early every Monday night because you have class until 8:30. How am I supposed to leave work early two nights a week?"

Me: "I don't know. How is Sam going to get to soccer? I guess I can see if I can leave my internship by 4:30pm, which means he would only be 10 minutes late or so"

pause

Me: "Okay, so just so you know, Sam has his soccer game every Saturday morning. Lucy and Bailey also have their swim lessons every Saturday morning"

Rich: "Okay"

Me: "But Bailey's karate class doesn't start until 6:45pm because he's an orange belt now. So what if we did karate class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I can leave for karate with Bailey when you get to the soccer field after work on Thursdays"

Rich: "Okay"

Me: "Oh, and we really need to start going to church again to counteract all this Jesus freak stuff. The opening day is this Sunday. I'll go and sign them up for RE classes"

Rich: "Okay"

Me: "Okay, so that's class for me on Monday nights and you need to get the kids, Bailey's karate class on Tuesdays, soccer and karate on Thursdays, and swim and soccer on Saturdays"

Rich: "Right"

Me: "Except for September 15th because we'll be in Dallas"

Rich: "Right"

Me: "Oh, and September 8th is Sam's first soccer game so they're taking team pictures. And we're also having Sam's birthday party that day"

Rich: "Right"(pause)

Me: "See, this is why I'm going to graduate school. So I can get a part time job after I graduate so that I can manage all of this"

Rich: "Right".

Posted by Tracey Robinson

Guilt-Ridden

Consider this Working Mom Against Guilt Monday...

(1) Tela at WMAG wrote an interesting post on the following topic that is worth reading.

Did you hear about the New York City's public hospital system announcement that it will no longer supply new mothers with free formula samples in the gift bags it gives moms to take home with them?

"Instead, the new mothers will each be given a breast-milk bottle cooler, disposable nursing pads, breastfeeding tips and a baby T-shirt with the slogan “I Eat at Mom’s” emblazoned on the front. Breastfeeding coaches will accompany the mothers at bedside “to help initiate breastfeeding within one hour of delivery.” The hospital agency will also give out free breast pumps and make available hospital-grade electric breast pumps to mothers whose newborns have to remain in the hospital." Read the NY Times article here.

I think it's brillant. And long overdue.

(2) In her latest post, Susan at WMAG asks what have you compromised since you became a working mother? And what do you refuse to compromise?

What thought-provoking questions. Something of rare occurrence around here.

I think that I've definitely compromised "me" time. But then hasn't every mom? Whether a WOHM or not? My weekdays consist of getting up, getting dressed, getting the girls up and their milk, commuting in traffic, spending the day at work, commuting in traffic, making dinner, cleaning up, bathing the girls and putting them to bed. My "me" time consists of the hour between 9pm and 10pm when I get to watch one of my trash tv shows and/or check my personal email. On the weekends my days consist of spending every possible moment having quality time with the girls, running errands that I didn't have time for during the week, and cleaning the house. Once a month, though, I try to attend my Moms Night Out so that I can at least socialize with my peers for a few hours every few weeks. But whereas I used to always have my hair done, my nails done, wear fashionable clothing and read magazines, I have time for none of those things anymore. In fact, I had to take the day off of work yesterday just to run errands and get my hair done (yes, desperate measures. but it hasn't been done in a really long time).

And compromising "me" time means that I've also compromised "us" time with my hubby. We used to be avid movie buffs and I can't tell you the last time we saw a movie. Actually, yes I can. It was "Daddy's Little Girls" back in February, when we both left work early to catch a movie. We also love entertaining and what with naptimes, bedtimes, and a lack of babysitting options, our BBQs and cocktail parties have come to a screeching halt. Lastly, we love traveling too. Suffice it to say that we have been on one vacation by ourselves since 2004.

Of course there are other small compromises, like personal space, sleeping-in, extra cash to spend on frivolities, time to read (adult) books, getting to work early so that I can be home early, etc., but I would say that the biggest compromise is the "me" time.

So what do I refuse to compromise? Honestly, I've been sitting here racking my brain for something but I can't think of anything at the moment. Could it be that I've compromised almost everything?

And here is where I'll insert the line about how these compromises are a small price to pay for having these two precious little beings in my life.

Because I am a working mother combatting guilt, after all.