meal planning

There was a time in my life when Andy and I would make dinner plans practically every night on the fly. We'd call each other on the way home from work, figure out what we wanted, then execute on our plan. It probably wasn't the most cost effective way to do things, or the most time efficient, but it worked for a young married couple with no kids.

Fast forward to Levi at 10 months old. We could still mostly get away with this plan because baby food is ridiculously easy to plan for, even when you are making it yourself. Every week or two, I'd make up a big batch of baby food (veggie purees and Levi's favorite, baby bolognese which was basically spaghetti and meat sauce with veggies, also pureed). I'd freeze it into ice cube trays, pop them into a freezer bag and we'd be set for our quick and easy baby food.

Fast forward to today. Now we actually have to plan. Levi eats dinner at 6:00 and I really try to keep him eating a variety of foods. Of course, he'd eat lasagna for a whole week straight (and has been known to do so), but I want to keep his food preferences as varied as possible. Plus, I know that one of the things that stresses my hubby out more than any other household chore is food planning. He doesn't like to make those last minute decisions when there are hungry people to deal with. He likes to know what's coming to him, know that we already have the food in the house. Of course he doesn't complain if there are no plans, but I can almost visibly see him relax when I tell him "we are having chili for dinner" and he walks home to a house smelling like chili ready to eat. As a homemaker, it makes me feel good to provide this sense of stability to him as he provides our family with our financial stability.

All that to say, I have just meal planned ourselves from here until Move Day!! I have a plan for every night between now and the new house. I have to go food shopping again next Monday to get the next round of fresh ingredients, but that'll be easy. Usually I handwrite my meal plan for the week, but this time I typed it. Each day I noted if there was a special evening activity (of which we have many coming up... church events, a wedding for me to run, etc.). Then I wrote the meal. If it was a planned leftover, "Repeat: lasagna". If Levi was going to eat something different than us, I wrote that in parenthesis. I also accounted for take-out plans, like for the day before we move. Boston Market will be preparing our dinner for us.

Phew! That's one more thing taken care of before we move!

thou shalt not judge

We all do it, no matter how much we hate it. We, as mothers and even before as non-parents, tend to judge the actions of other parents, non-parents, kids, etc. Maybe it's not always a bad thing, more of a comparative thing, but it generally gives us the wrong results. I continue to learn this more and more as I encounter different parenting styles and different kid personalities, and it all makes you realize that every situation is different and we're all going after the same goals --- survival, enrichment, growth and hopefully some fun in there, too.

Today's lesson from the playground. Levi and I are enjoying a lovely playdate with our other friends from MOPS at a playground. It's not too crowded, the sun in shining, everything is great. A yellow school bus pulls up and begins to offload a swarm of bigger, louder kids. Oh great, here some these big kids who are going to overrun the park and trample our little kids. Why do they have to ruin our day?

I was wrong! These kids, while older and faster, were all very well behaved and so considerate of the little kids. Levi actually spent a good half hour befriending a few older boys, maybe first graders, and following them around. They not only tolerated Levi, they embraced him as another kid to play with. The oldest kid patiently let Levi scoop mulch into his hands, let him kick their soccer ball around, even picked him up a few times he fell down and brushed off the mulch. The big kid even took Levi to the small slides and helped him up the stairs and down the slides a few times. It was such a sweet thing to witness, and I regretted my initial negative reaction to this bus of kids. After all, one day Levi will be a big, loud kid riding a school bus and I can only hope that he acts kindly toward those smaller than him.

in a month

Actually, in less than a month, the Simpsons will have moved into their new home. I'm so very excited that this is happening, but I'm also overwhelmed at all the things that need to get done (or the things I want to get done). Among them:

1) Pack. Obviously. We haven't packed in six years.

2) Choose paint colors. I want Levi's room painted in almost the same blue, but something a little lighter/gray that is more sophisticated for a sophisticated almost-two-year-old boy. Hah. Do you have any idea how many blues there are? And how easy it is to go too gray, too purple or too green? We also want to have the baby girl's paint color picked so they don't clash. And we want to paint the master bedroom. I think we'll stick with the color we have now since it's just so soothing to look at.

3) Think about packing. This goes back to item #1, but I seriously think I'll spend more time THINKING about packing than actually packing. I mentally tally up how much stuff we have in various places around the house and how many boxes will it take.

Well, I guess that's my short list. Short, but big! I'm so glad we are hiring professional movers...