Category Archives: food issues

September 2, 2011 · 3:32 pm

The Good, The Bad, The Not Great, The Better And The Best

7:15am…The Good.  Dylan woke up dry for the third day in a row.  It only took two nights of accidents (and a lot of laundry) for him to conquer the pull-up. What a relief to be completely done with diapers and pull-ups for one child!  One down, one to go…

Rewind two hours and twenty minutes.

4:55am…The Bad.  This is not the moment when I rolled over in my cozy, warm bed and peeked at the clock and thought to myself, Awesome, I get at least one more hour of sleep.  Two if I’m lucky.  No, it was when Riley woke up eager to play with every toy in the house and, of course, force me to be his playmate.

Fast-forward four hours and fifty minutes.

9:45am…The Not Great.  Riley can keep his teeth…for now.  His mouth and gums have healed beautifully, but his front teeth are still mobile.  As long as there’s no infection or discomfort, the dentist wants to wait two more weeks to see if a miracle happens.  Yes, “miracle” was the word she used.  Sigh…

Rewind sixteen hours.

5:45pm…The Better.  Despite buckets of encouragement, desperate pleading and intense bribery, Operation Chicken has yielded NO consumption of meat of any kind.  However, there have been a few small victories.  I’m pleased to announce that Dylan has added bagels and cream cheese, cottage cheese (in small amounts…according to Dylan, cottage cheese makes him cough) and, as of 5:45pm last night, peanut butter to his food repertoire.  At least it has a lot of protein.

Fast-forward one hour and a half.

7:15pm…The Best

Mike: “Do you need an attitude adjustment?  Let me get a tool.”
Dylan: “What kind of tool?”
Mike: “A screwdriver.”
Dylan: “Daddy, don’t screw me.”

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August 22, 2011 · 12:38 am

T’was The Night Before School

T’was the night before school

And all through the city

The mothers rejoiced

Some even felt giddy

The backpacks were packed

By the door with care

In the hopes that the children

Would soon be out of their hair

The children were (finally!) nestled

All snug in their beds

After whining and crying

And shaking heads

Then the mommies had wine

The daddies had beers

And they all clinked their drinks

And said a big “Cheers!”

I know some kids around the country are already back at school and some don’t start until after Labor Day.  Mine, thankfully, go back tomorrow.  I’m happy about this for obvious reasons – we’ve spent a lot of time together these past few weeks. 

Some of it was wonderful – the beach vacation, leisurely mornings in pajamas and afternoon movie marathons.  Some of it wasn’t.  The boys’ new meal plan has been emotionally exhausting (and so far not very successful), and I’m fairly certain I lost some precious brain cells at indoor kid play spaces.  

The thing that makes me happiest about school starting, though, is that the boys are truly excited.  Riley is still young, but he gets it.  “Go to school?” he asks.  “With Dylan?”  He seems so grown up to me at times, but then he giggles like a madman when I do peek-a-boo and I’m instantly reminded that the little guy is still two.

As you know, Dylan is a complex creature.  He keeps so much inside (in his head and heart) that it’s often hard to know what he’s thinking or feeling.  In previous years, Dylan didn’t cope well with the start of school.  This time around, though, he’s visibly excited.  Every night this week, he asked me if we were going to school the next day.  “Not tomorrow,” I told him, “In four days.”  Then three days, two days, and today I had the pleasure of telling him, “Yes, you’re going to school tomorrow.” 

This newfound excitement about school gives me hope that one day soon he’ll wake up and ask for bucket of chicken wings for breakfast.  When that happens, I’ll write a few verses called “T’was The Day He Ate Chicken.”

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Filed under food issues, school