a moment of wonder

i haven’t laughed as hard as i did last night in a long time.

we were sitting at the kitchen island and it was time for treat, but because neither daughter ate a decent dinner i said they could have a healthy snack instead of ice cream. after the protesting stopped, we ultimately decided on bread with nutella. a compromise. a combination.

M says, it’s a treat-snack. a “track”. i suggested maybe a “sneat” would be better. V (who turned 6 two saturdays ago) says, what’s a sneat? we explained that we took two words and combined them to make a new word. M says, you know, like how if you combine mom and pop, you get mop.

V says, what’s a mop?

i say, it’s mom and pop put together.

and the look on her face was pure amazement. her eyes got as big as saucers and i could see the wheels turning in her little brain to try to make sense of a mom-pop combination and what that would look like. 6 year olds can be pretty literal.

and i couldn’t stop laughing. i laughed so hard i cried. a perfect moment of wonder.

can you relate?

baffled by the book

dear world,

i will do a proper holiday celebration post here pretty soon. today, i simply have to vent about one of the most ridiculous children’s books to enter our home. i did not buy it. it was received by my oldest daughter as a gift.

allow me to introduce you to hernando fandango, the great dancing dog! by rachel swirles.

at fist glance, it’s really no worse than some of the other randomly published children’s books we have encountered. but then, i read on. here’s my beef:

it’s like reading a book with no basis in reality. what on earth is a pajama-case dog? doesn’t this need some minor explanation in order to feature so prominently in the plot line? seriously, i’m pretty well read and i’ve never head of a pajama-case dog.

the rhymes are really reaching: “chances” rhymes with “dancers” twice. once, i could forgive, but twice? and she also rhymed “paw” with “floor”. again, forgivable on it’s own, but combined with the rest, it’s just terrible.

but, you  know what? i read it with gusto. i read it with excitement and a tone of “this is the way it should be” because ultimately my girls both enjoy the story. at the end of the day, if a story speaks to my girls, i will continue to read it over and over and over again. whether i like it or not.

feeling fairly unimpressed,

cm

feeling like a good mom

dear world,

today i stayed home with V. yesterday when i picked her up from school, she was literally laying on the floor. the after-school care program teacher said she thought V was really tired. we took her temperature when we got home and it was over 101. 

today, she mostly watched tv. and to be fair, while we don’t usually let her watch much on the television, all i want to do when i’m sick is watch tv. i thought to myself, oh! i’ll get so much done, but she could barely hold her head up. i ended up sitting next to her most of the day. she finally started to perk up around 3pm.

at long last, the tv went on break. no more programs for at least an hour. she couldn’t decide what to do. painting? all the paints are on the sunporch and they’re frozen. play dough? frozen. something else? frozen. then she asked, well can’t we just make play dough? 

actually, yes.

fortunately, we had everything we needed to make play dough. specifically, purple play dough. we used the recipe found here and while ours didn’t look quite as awesome as hers, it certainly worked.

credit: thefabulousmomsguide.com

i substituted arrowroot for cream of tartar and i didn’t read all of the directions beforehand so rather than add water a little at a time, i dumped the whole cup in at once. this is not advisable. i had to add flour to thicken it up so it would stop sticking to my hands like glue. once we reached the proper flour ratio, i set her up with some cookie cutters and she went to town.

i feel like i totally nailed being a mom today. i managed to soothe my sick child and create play dough out of thin air (and flour and water and salt, etc). 

and both kids were asleep by 8:05pm. 

living the dream,

cm

thanksgiving: a much overdue post

dear world,

we hosted thanksgiving dinner this year at our new house. my whole family came in for the week. both my sisters who live out of state and my grandma came down and we were joined my my mom, my uncle and his lady friend. all in all, including kids, we had 12 people!

M cooked the largest turkey we’ve ever had and as the night went on, the turkey got bigger and bigger to hear him tell the tale. it turned out beautifully!

i cooked just about everything else and i have to say i’m the most proud of the cranberry sauce. growing up, we ate the cranberry sauce that came out of the can with the little rings around it, sliced into a lovely glass serving dish. for the past couple of years, we made homemade cranberry sauce which was chunky and my family eyed it with distrust. this is not what we’re used to eating. this year, i made the ultimate compromise. homemade jellied cranberry sauce. folks ate it up.

food and wine’s cranberry sauce

i finally made something that looked like the picture.

my version

then, M started to make stock with the turkey carcass, but fell asleep putting V to bed. so at the end of the night, i finished my evening quietly.

feeling thankful,

cm

thanksgiving menu

dear world,

i rarely have time for one post, let alone two, but here we are.

this year, we are hosting thanksgiving dinner at our house. and we’ll have 12 people including the kids. yikes! it’s going to be a little nuts, but here we go. this year, i’m pretty excited about our menu. M is responsible for the turkey and gravy and i an responsible for everything else. our meal will have:

• turkey and gravy (obviously)
• homemade stuffing
• mashed potatoes whipped with roasted parsnips
• roasted brussels sprout with either shallots and balsamic vinegar or maple syrup and brown sugar (i can’t decide!)
• roasted sweet potatoes
• jellied cranberry sauce
• green salad

we’ll also have 2 pre-meal options so folks can munch while we’re cooking: pears with goat cheese and arugula wrapped with proscuitto and an old-fashioned cheese ball (like we had at my grandma’s parties all those years ago.)

and pies. lots of pies. i’m making a vegan pumpkin pie and apple pie and my family is bringing even more desserts.

i cannot wait. happy thanksgiving!

cm

french toast, for the win

dear world,

this past weekend, i asked my husband to pick up a load of the really nice bread from the local bakery so i could make french toast for the girls. but, it turns out they wanted pancakes instead. which is fine. to be fair, this is what they were supposed to look like. mine were a little droopier. but they tasted awesome!

photo credit: post punk kitchen

however, i had this load of really nice bread just sitting there getting stale. so, rather than totally waste it, i made french toast last night after they went to bed and popped it in the fridge so they could have it this morning. apparently, it was a hit. every once in a while, i feel like a nail this mom thing.

for the win,

cm

the morning struggle to get out the door

dear world,

i saw this image on facebook the other day and thought, i can relate to that. we have a limited amount of time in the mornings to get up and have breakfast. the girls wake up around 6:45am and we leave the house around 7:45am to make 2 drop offs at 2 different schools and then i barely have enough time to make it to work.

this morning, N just fell to pieces. she normally wakes up super happy and runs into the bathroom to go potty on her pink potty. then we wash hands, get dressed and wake up V. not so this morning.

first, she didn’t want to wear pants. well, pants are not optional. you have to wear pants.

then, she didn’t want to go potty. not a big deal except she just cried and cried and cried. “no pants! no pants, mommy! no pull up, no pull up. different pull up”. finally, i *literally* wrestled her into a pull up and a pair of purple leggings which led to more crying. “no pants, no pants…”

eventually, we found two additional pull ups, tried each of them on until she found one that met her expectations. we went back to her room and she chose a hello kitty skirt. she calmly let me help her put it on no problem and the tears instantly dried up.

amazing,

cm

PSA: wax paper is not the same as parchment paper

dear world,

in our effort to eat more whole foods and less processed stuff, i’ve started making homemade cereal bars. i’ve tried a couple of different recipes, but this one from weelicious.com tasted great and requires no use of the stove so the girls can help from start to finish. apparently, the bars are supposed to look like this when finished:

 

photo credit: weelicious.com

however, the first time i made them, i used aluminum foil to line the pan so the foil stuck a little to the bottom and i let them cool for a bit too long before trying to cut them. they certainly weren’t pretty, but they were absolutely edible.

this time, i thought, i’ll use wax paper to line the pan. the box says it’s oven safe. i mean, i did check the box and since we don’t have any parchment paper, i took the plunge.

my cereal bars turned out like this:

cereal bar crumble

apparently, wax paper, when baked in the oven for any amount of time melts into whatever you happen to be making. my cereal bars had a fine layer of wax melted into them which i then had to peel off.

it was messy business.

in brighter news, my cereal bar crumble tastes just as good as a properly formed bar. one simply needs a spoon or many many napkins available to eat it.

crunching away,

cm

ps- does anyone have any good no-heat recipes that kids can help with?

the sick day

dear world,

V has a virus. i sent her to school tuesday with a little cough and the nurse called around 1pm. she had a pretty good cough. i didn’t let the nurse take her temperature in case it was a fluke and we could send her the next day, but she actually had a low-grade fever. and her fever held between 100.2 and 100.6 for the past two days.

today, i fully intended to take her to school except her fever was still there this morning. so, instead, i kept her home. we watched tv, i did some work, we went grocery shopping and she watched more tv.

i made ketchup (from scratch) and started making vanilla extract for our holiday gifts. i did laundry. what else is a girl to do?

then, late afternoon, her fever went up. instead of hovering around 100, it’s’ now hovering around 101. i took her to the doctor on thursday who said this fever lasts 3-5 days. she said to go back if the fever spiked or lasted until monday. but now i’m nervous. going up after 3 1/2 days versus going down is not so good.

i hate this. i want her to feel better and sometimes it seems like she is. but then, she walked over this afternoon and just put her head in my lap. she actually asked to go to bed this evening. that may have never happened before.

i’m a little concerned. i have a call into the after hours line at the doctor’s office. i hope they say it’s fine. i hope her fever breaks tonight.

here’s hoping,

cm

i can do it myself

dear world,

we have reached the do-it-myself phase of parenting with N. for real. if we walk into a room and i happen to turn on the light, i then must turn out said light and allow N to turn it on. needless to say, everything takes twice as long.

i had forgotten the fierceness of do-it-myself and how all things mean so much more. for example, going potty must only happen in the pink potty. the green potty will not do. the cup with a straw is mandatory. how could i possibly think that a sippy cup could be appropriate? she must sit in the chair next to me as opposed to in my lap. i am a fool.

it’s kind of amazing. there’s this balance shifting between choosing one’s actions and depending on me to do it for her. sometimes it’s ok and sometimes it’s just not. no. mommy do it. 

allow me to illustrate.

saturday morning, it poured. i mean, it really rained hard with wind and it was kind of cold and generally miserable. i thought, let’s go run errands. obviously. leaving the house, V, N and i all have on rain jackets and shoes. by the time we’ve been in the car 2 minutes, i’m the only person with all this still on. (N chose to jump in puddle so then V decided to do the same which meant very damp feet.)

at target, i barely managed to get N’s shoes on to make it in the store. they were off 30 seconds after i strapped her into the cart. at this point, we still have rain coats on. apparently, target doesn’t carry little potties so we had to make a second stop.

in the pouring rain.

as we bolt from the car into the store, i have on shoes and a raincoat with my hood on. V has on a raincoat that is not buttoned nor over her head. N is barefoot without any sort of shelter from the rain and crying desperately in my arms.

i don’t know if you’ve every been to buy, buy baby, but it is the bed, bath and beyond of baby stores. in fact, i think it’s owned by them. i now have a dripping wet, sobbing child in the basket of the cart (having refused to sit in the child seat) and a 5 year old who wants everything and can reach everything trying to choose a potty.

with a point in her favor, N chose the only blue and red potty as the one she must have over all the dora, princess and pink potties on the wall. the challenge being this one had no price, no box and apparently no side decals which meant we got the display for a discount. 20 minutes, 2 extra items and much bargaining for good behavior later.

glad she loves her potty,

cm