When Should Children Start Chores?

In the days before I had kids, I used to do all my house cleaning on one day. It took a couple of hours, but at the end of that time, I had a sweet smelling, sparkling clean house. I did all the laundry another day, and then I was done for the week, except for maintenance stuff like scooping the catbox daily, or doing dishes after meals.

Things have changed, and this method of cleaning my house no longer works with my life and schedule. Now I have a rough schedule of cleaning, and I clean something every single day. This way, I split that couple of hours of cleaning into smaller, more manageable amounts that work with having two little kids around. For example, on Monday I sweep and mop the floor and deep clean the upstairs bathroom. On Tuesdays and Fridays, I disinfect the kitchen, vacuum and dust. Wednesdays and Saturdays are days the bathroom gets another (shorter) wipe down, and I clean the downstairs bathroom and mop again on Thursday. Cat litter gets completely changed on Sunday, and laundry is done as needed.

Today being Friday, I vacuumed in the morning, but was dragging my feet on dusting. It's one of my most unfavorite chores, but a necessary one because our neighborhood seems so dusty. If I don't dust twice a week, it shows.

I was wasting time on Twitter when I idly wondered if I could convince my kids that dusting is fun. Almost immediately, I got a direct message that read, "That's terrible. They're children, not slaves."

I think someone is overreacting just a tad, don't you?

First of all, I was only partially serious. Second of all, I was talking about giving the kids Swiffer cloths and showing them how to swipe them over the lower shelves on the entertainment center. I wasn't expecting my two-year-old to stand on a ladder and clean off the blades of the ceiling fan.

Then there is also this. Of course they're not slaves. But I'm not a slave either, and I think it's good for kids to learn to pitch in and do their share. Otherwise, how is it fair for them to make the messes and then sit back and watch as I clean them up?

Both kids are expected to do a few age appropriate chores. They know they need to put their trash into the trashcan and pick up their toys when they are finished playing. They put their dirty clothes into the laundry room, and Johnny puts his dirty dishes into the sink after meals. Johnny helps make his bed, and Maureen has started, on her own, attempting to fold the blankets in her crib and puts them in the corner. Maureen sorts socks when we do laundry, and Johnny folds things like washcloths.

This picture was taken 18 months ago. I didn't give him all this stuff, he got it out on his own.



He loves to help me clean, begs me to let him mop the floor and imitates me vacuuming with his toy lawn mower. I think he'd sell his soul to be allowed to actually vacuum, but I think the vacuum is too big and heavy for him right now.

I don't feel like I'm overworking my kids. Instead, they help me a few minutes everyday with keeping the house in order, and they learn what it means to work as a team.

What do you think? Is asking a two-year-old and a four-year-old to help with the dusting the same as slavery? At what age do you think kids should be expected to help with the housework?

A Change Of Heart or A Blow To The Head

I may be the world's least crafty mom. Construction paper and glue and glitter and pipe cleaners have never been my idea of fun. As a toddler, Johnny was never interested in arts and crafts. He would color for a few minutes and then want to get down and do something else. So since I didn't enjoy the arts and crafts thing, I didn't push it, preferring to use my creativity in other ways. Like this snowman made from white kitchen trash bags and shredded junk mail. Or these carrot snails.

Then he started preschool and it must have awoken a sleeping desire to create, because he's constantly begging me, "Mom, I want to do a craft."

He got a pile of activity books and crayons and markers for Christmas, and a giant box of Play Doh. We've been attending the preschool story hour at the library and sometimes the children's librarian sends home a craft. My favorite so far was based on the book, Not A Stick by Antoinette Portis, and the take home craft was a piece of cardboard and a popsicle stick. Not only did Johnny have a blast turning his stick into the mast of a sailboat, he also discovered a love for gluing things to paper.

For the holidays, he had to make cards for his classmates. I made a trip to Michael's and came home with various art supplies, including pom poms and the dreaded pipe cleaners, and a giant pile of holiday stickers, because stickers are an easy and mess free craft. Johnny had a blast making his cards and they came out pretty cute.

That was the beginning of the end.

Valentine's Day is coming up soon, and he has to make more cards for his classmates. They will be celebrating the holiday in school, and also using the cards to recognize the names on the cards and deliver them to the right child.

Johnny needs to work on developing his fine motor skills, so I came up with a more elaborate idea this time, and we went to Michael's to stock up.

Let me tell you, I barely recognized myself.

"Let's look for some stickers, stickers are always fun....OOH! LOOK! These are foam stickers and they're GLITTERY! COOL!"

I tossed the stickers into the cart.

Then the insanity really took over. I bought glitter glue. Two bottles, red and pink. And more pom poms (although those have been turned into cat toys for Jameson, who has been looking a little chubby), a couple of fancy hole punches, a giant package of card stock, and pink yarn.

For someone who isn't very crafty, I'm pretty proud of the idea I came up with.

First, I had Johnny cut heart shapes out of white cardstock, then I used the fancy hole punch to punch holes all around the edge. The initial plan was for him to do the hole punching, but it's a little difficult.

Then he laced pink yarn through the holes, wrote his name on the back, and decorated the front with foam stickers and glitter glue. Cute, cheap, and definitely an exercise in fine motor skills.

Here he is concentrating on lacing.
Practicing his cutting skills. Notice the paper scraps all over the table. Surprisingly, not only did I not hover over him, I didn't stress at all about the mess. In fact, after he finished for the day, I left the scraps and pieces of yard and tiny hole punches there on the table for four hours.


Two of the finished product.


I learned something about myself. Seeing things through my son's eyes can dramatically alter how I feel about a lot of things, from something as complicated as politics to something as simple as Play Doh on the carpet. And I'm surprised at how into being crafty I suddenly am, but don't expect to see actual glitter in this house anytime soon. Because somethings will never change.

In the meantime, does anyone have advice for getting glitter glue off wood?

Mommy Ogre

Sometimes, it amazes me how my four-year-old has the power to make me feel like an complete jerk.

One day last week, I decided to take a moment to make a phone call. Johnny was occupied with his trucks, and I needed to call Maureen's pediatrician about her MRI results.

Of course, as soon as I got on the phone, he needed me.

"Mom! I need to tell you something! MOM! MOM!"

I was on hold, so I said:

"Johnny. Are you bleeding?"

"No."

"Are you having a seizure?

"No."

"Do you need to use the bathroom?"

"No."

"Is the house on fire?"

"No."

"Okay, then whatever you need to tell me isn't an emergency and you need to wait until I'm finished on the phone."

I turned and walked away, but he latched onto my leg and clung there like a barnacle.

I tried shaking him off, but he weights thirty-three pounds and wasn't going anywhere. I hung up the phone, pried his fingers off my leg and got angry, raising my voice and threatening to send him to time out.

He burst into tears. "I just wanted to tell you I looooooooooove you!!!!"

Great. Now I feel like a horrible mother.

You would think that by now I would've figured out that small children and phone calls just don't go together.

The Joys Of Being A Homeowner (Subtitle: I Hate Winter)

The financial experts say, when it comes to debt, a mortgage is a "good" kind of debt. It means you're paying towards something that will eventually be yours, it means roots, it means equity and all that other garbage. It means that, once you've finished paying out hundreds or thousands of dollars per month, you have something to show for it at the end.

It also means that when something breaks, it's up to you to figure it out.

On Monday, we finally got some snow. We've had flurries here and there and some sleet a couple of times, but nothing that really stuck. Its just been cold, really freaking cold, and that makes me grouchy.

The cold also means that there are broken pipes all over the city.

On Monday, we heard the sump pump running, but I just assumed it was because of the snow melting from the roof. When it continued, we checked out the basement and were dismayed to see two inches of water on the floor.

Thankfully, the furnace didn't get wet and mostly everything down there is stored in plastic, but we still needed to find the source of the leak.

It turns out the neighbor has a broken pipe in his kitchen and some wet carpet. And we got flooded.

My husband is home from work today, waiting on an insurance adjuster to come check out the damage, and the neighbor is getting a plumber to fix the problem on his end and also pump us out.

My basement is trashed, there are wet footprints everywhere and my anxiety level is high.

But hey, at least we own our home right?

Winter, I hate you.

When I thought about it, I realized pretty much everyone I know has dealt with water problems at some point. How about you? Have you ever had a flood and how long did it take to clean up?

Product Review: Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce

My family is a big fan of sauces. My four-year-old will eat just about anything if he can dip it in sauce, and my husband just loves to try things that he can put on his food. Something like a jar of fancy mustard is a great gift for him. So when the people at Country Bob's emailed me, offering me two bottles of their sauce to try, I said Sure! A bottle of Country Bob's retails at about 4 dollars a bottle, but I got them for free.

What I Liked
The sauce is flavorful. At first sniff, it reminded me of a combination of steak sauce and Worcestershire sauce. I gave it to my preschooler to dip his chicken nuggets in (he likes BBQ sauce) and he gave it a thumbs up, but my two-year-old wouldn't eat it. I also tried it as a regular steak sauce when I broiled some flank steaks, and in place of Worcestershire sauce in meatballs. For the steak, I thought the Country Bob's was a bit too strong. I'm not a huge fan of dipping my steak in sauce though, so fans of A-1 might love the Country Bob's. As an ingredient, I thought the Country Bob's was outstanding. It gave a little kick to my meatballs, and would be a great addition to any meat dish with gravy.

What I Didn't Like
It's a little high in sugar for me, and it does contain corn syrup (but no HFCS).

Would I Recommend Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce?
Absolutely! If you or your spouse like to grill, try it for a flavorful and easy way to jazz up your summer food.

Al Malecovic, a member of the Country Bob's team, was nice enough to answer some questions.

Q: How long have you been with Country Bobs? A: Country Bob and his son, Terry, who is my son-in-law, and I and my son Reed started the company in 1982. Bob came up with the sauce in 1968.

Q: What is your favorite recipe to use Country Bob's sauce in? A: So many, first as a dipping sauce for meats and fries, tied for first is a flavoring sauce for soups, stews, one dish meals, basting sauce for BBQ.

Q: Why do you think Country Bob's is better than other sauces? A: It has a nice mild, a little sweet, not overbearing flavor.

Q: What is your favorite Country Bob's product overall? A: By FAR, FAR, FAR the "All Purpose Sauce."

Check out the recipes at CountryBobs.com and click here to find out where you can buy your own.

Menu Plan: I Need A Chest Freezer

My parents have a giant chest freezer in their basement, as well as two cabinets filled with nonperishables.

My little rowhouse has very little cabinet space and nowhere to put a chest freezer or additional dry storage. I'm so jealous, I'm blazing green. I am so tired of having to grocery shop so often, because we don't have enough space to really stock up on food.

Anyway, here's what I have planned for this week:

**Crispy Fish Triangles--A recipe from Parents, this version of fish sticks is fresher and healthier than storebought. I'll make homemade tartar sauce to go with it and maybe couscous. Both kids will always eat couscous.
**Zesty Marinated Porkchops and Roasted Veggie Orzo Mix--A new recipe from Healthy Cooking Magazine. We haven't had pork in awhile, and this recipe will require me to buy more horseradish. Horseradish always seems to lose it's kick very quickly after being opened. Any tips to make it last longer? Maybe also salads to go with this.
**Shrimp Picatta Pasta--Safeway has a large 2 pound bag of shrimp on sale this week, and my husband never eats more than 1/2 a pound at a time. I like being able to get 4 meals from one purchase.
**Tomato and Cheese Pizza--Rachael Ray has a bunch of skillet dough recipes in her latest issue and the plain pizza looks really good. Except I don't have a cast iron skillet. Maybe I can borrow my mom's? I think I might use some fresh mozzarella on the pizza too. Yum-O!
**Saucy Peach Chicken--My kids will always eat chicken, and sauce is a plus too. Wild Rice and corn on the side.

What are you eating this week?

A Good Effort

Despite a city draped in purple and crazed fans urging the Ravens on, we lost to the Steelers last night.

Obviously, I'm disappointed, but hey, we still made it pretty far! And there's always next year.

Rather than lose our parking spot to the fans flocking to the bar on the corner, we stayed put for the day. Before the game started, I took Johnny outside for some exercise, and discovered a family of feral cats living behind a nearby city building. Someone had provided them with a plastic kennel to live in and lined it with blankets, and there were numerous bowls filled with cat food scattered around.

That's not so much of an unusual sight, considering the cat problem this city has, but the space heater plugged into an outdoor outlet and positioned at the door to the cat shelter WAS unusual.

I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean, the person that set all this up is obviously kindhearted and wants to care for a group of homeless cats. And yes, it has been freezing cold lately. But a space heater for wild cats? Really?

Anyway, most of the cats took off running when we approached, except for one gnarly looking fellow who sat and watched us. He was terribly thin, his coat looked ragged, his eyes were crusty, and one ear showed evidence of an old aural hematoma. Plus, he was breathing funny. So I couldn't decide if he was sticking around because was not as feral as the others, or because he felt too crappy to run. Probably the latter.

After our walk, we ate Bean and Ham Soup for dinner with Cheesy Drop Biscuits and watched the game. The kids too.

I present purple children eating pretzels and watching TV.



Maureen went to bed at halftime, and as I tucked her in, I heard Johnny shout from downstairs, "Smash his head! Yeah! How's that feel?"

Nothing like football to bring a father and son together.

What A New Mom Really Needs

When a woman has a baby, she's usually inundated with gifts and visitors and offers of help. But what is helpful to one woman might be an intrusion to another.

Johnny was born on a Thursday and my husband took off that Friday to stay with me in the hospital. The following Monday was Labor Day, so he was off already, and he also took off the rest of that week. We mostly spent that week trying to sleep when we could, and he did the grocery shopping and errand running. He went back to work on Monday. My mom came for four days after that. She stayed during the day and held my baby so I could sleep. She also showed up one morning with a trunk load of groceries and she made me lunch each afternoon and cooked us dinner each night. It was immensely helpful, because I was really exhausted from my delivery. Sleep was what I needed more than anything, and it was nice to have some company when I was feeling blue. Since she lives nearby, it wasn't necessary for her to stay the night, because my husband was home to help out. I also think I would have felt obligated to keep the house really clean or provide some sort of entertainment, and I just wasn't up to it at the time.

Before Maureen was born, I spent a few days cooking meals that could be frozen. This time, we had some family members come over on the weekends for a couple of weeks to play with Johnny and my MIL held the baby constantly, so I could get some rest and also some housework done. It was helpful because our son got some one on one attention from someone who had slept enough to keep up with him. The meals I made in advance were helpful too, as I didn't have to cook for a couple of weeks and we still had tasty meals for dinner. This time around, my delivery was easier and faster and I wasn't nearly as tired and sore as I was feeling stretched to the limit from caring for two little children.

A coworker of mine had a baby in early December and she's starting back to work today. So I made her an Italian pasta dish last night and a nice salad. Johnny and I are going to take it to her at work. This is the same meal I have taken to two other friends when they had babies. I figured it's hard enough to leave your baby and go back to work and worry about pumping away from home, without having to think about dinner as well. In addition, people seem to think after the first six weeks, everything is going great, and the offers of help seem to fade away. In reality, sometimes it takes a little longer to adjust to life with a new baby.

How about you? Did you have any help when your babies were born? What would have been helpful for you?

Also, be sure to pop over to API Speaks to read my January post!

What I Learned From My Daughter's Sedation Procedure

Last month, I mentioned that Maureen had been diagnosed with strabismus, a muscular problem with her eyes, and will eventually have surgery.

She saw her eye doctor recently for a follow up, and her eyes are about the same. Yesterday, she had an MRI to rule out an underlying neurological cause before we proceed with surgery.

Although we won't have the results of the scan for a few days, she did wonderfully and I'm feeling confident that she will do just as well for her surgery.

Since she is two years old, she had to be sedated for the procedure. We arrived at the hospital and checked in, then were taken to a playroom in the Children's Diagnostic Center. I had packed a bag with her favorite book, favorite video, her Tinkerbell blanket and her Elmo doll. She was more interested in playing with the toy grocery cart in the playroom, and it kept her occupied until the anesthesia team was ready for us.

I had consent forms to sign, then held her while the doctor put a mask over her mouth and noise to deliver gas anesthesia. This was the hardest part, because she didn't like the mask or the smell of the gas and I had to hold her down. After she was asleep, it was time for me to leave, so the nurses could place an IV catheter and hook her up to monitoring equipment. The scan took about an hour, and when it was finished and she was waking up, the nurses came to get me and I sat with her. She went back to sleep for awhile, and when she finally woke up, she just opened her eyes and smiled. The nurses were charmed at how calm she was; the child that was scanned before her was inconsolable for almost an hour after his procedure.

She was a little wobbly at first, but quickly seemed back to normal. I held her while she sucked down two apple juices and crammed Cheerios into her mouth. When she was fully awake and recovered, the nurses presented her with a newborn Cabbage Patch doll and we came home. She continued to eat in the car, and had more food when we got home.

She went to bed early and slept late, but is completely back to normal today.

I'm very pleased with how everything worked out, and the staff at the hospital couldn't have done a better job.

Here are some things that are handy to know before a sedation for a child.

**Go to a facility that expressly treats children--We went to Sinai hospital and were seen by a board certified pediatric anesthesiologist. Not only are the staff members specifically trained to work with kids, the facility was decorated in a pleasing and child friendly manner. Hospitals can be scary places, and having toys and cute decorations make all the difference for a nervous kid. They had toys and stuffed animals and stickers, and the bandaid that Maureen received on her catheter site was a fun Dora one.
**Take along a comforting object--As I mentioned, I took some books and videos, which we ended up not needing, but I also took her blanket and Elmo doll. I wanted her to have something familiar from home, and it was nice to have the blanket to wrap her in when she wanted to sit on my lap.
**Dress your child in comfortable clothes--She didn't have to wear a gown, so I dressed her in cozy knit pants and knit shirt. Also, keep in mind the type of procedure your child will be having. I took along a short sleeved shirt in case the nurses needed better access to her arm veins, but they placed the catheter in her hand instead. Since she was having her head scanned, the onesie with crotch snaps wasn't a problem, but a shirt with snaps at the neck or back would have been removed. The paperwork from the hospital also recommended bringing a change of clothes because older children sometimes lose control of their bladders under anesthesia.
**Be prepared for anesthesia--When the gas anesthesia took effect, Maureen went limp in my arms. This was the hardest part of the whole day, because she looked so small and vulnerable. And while she awoke easily and calmly, it's not uncommon for kids to cry or be disoriented following sedation.
**Keep fasting and naptime in mind when scheduling your appointment--Maureen's appointment was scheduled for 145, so she couldn't have any solid food after 745AM or anything at all by mouth after 1145 AM. I was originally not sure how the fasting would go, but it worked out great. I woke her up early at 7AM to feed her breakfast, then gave her a cup of white grape juice just before putting her down for a nap at 930. She woke up just in time to get dressed and get in the car to leave at noon.
**Keep food away--When Johnny wanted to eat, I made sure Maureen was in another room. She tends to want whatever he is having, so keeping food out of her sight helped immensely because I didn't have to tell her no. I also ate my own lunch prior to waking her up from her nap.
**Bring along a distraction for yourself--You probably won't be allowed to be with your child during the procedure, so bring something to do. I used my hour to get a sandwich and read a book and the time passed quickly. Before I knew it, it was time to see her again.

Has your child had surgery or a procedure with sedation? What things would you do differently, or do you have tips to add?

Tiny Talk Tuesday: What's Our Name?

If you're following NFL football, you know that the Ravens beat the Titans last weekend, and on Sunday, we get to play our arch rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. It is so on, dudes, SO on.

Anyway, my dad is a huge football fan, so I've been coaching Johnny on phrases to say to Pop, including, "What's our name? RAVENS!" (I thought about teaching him, "The Steelers suck!" but figured that might be going too far...)

Except that either I'm not enunciating enough or he's not listening closely, because the last time I asked him what we say to Pop, he said, "What's our name? Raisins!"

Or maybe it's just time for a snack.

Menu Plan: Lots Of Meat

I made this week's menu plan based on a couple of things. For one, Maureen has a pre-op exam tomorrow for her MRI on Thursday, and Johnny has school. His class has also started ice skating lessons on Tuesday mornings. My MIL will be here tomorrow to babysit as usual, but she and my FIL won't be staying for dinner, because her mother is having her gallbladder removed and they'll be going to the hospital to pick her up. So I want to make a meal that they can take with them. Maureen's MRI will take up most of the day on Thursday, and I get to go get my teeth drilled at the dentist on Friday.

We also have the remnants of a ham in the freezer, and some grains I'd like to use up.

So considering the ingredients I have on hand, and our busy, jam packed week, this menu plan is all about things that are fast and easy. And somehow, that translates to lots of meat.

This week, we are eating:

**Homemade Chicken And Cheese Ravioli--Last week, on a busy day, I picked up a rotisserie chicken with the intention of using the leftover meat to make homemade ravioli. Except the chicken was actually a small breast, and after we made sandwiches with it, there wasn't enough left for the ravioli! So I bumped that recipe to this week's menu. Bread, salad and steamed veggies to go with it.
**Bean Soup--I'll use the leftover ham bone to make soup. My version is tomato based, and I'll serve more bread and salads to go with it. Considering how cold it has been lately, this will probably hit the spot.
**Beef and Wild Rice Medley--This is our Monday dish. I cook the beef in the crockpot so it's nice and tender, and I'm doubling the recipe so it will feed 7 people. Fresh steamed broccoli and salads to go with it.
**Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy and Garlic Mashed Potatoes--A new recipe from Prevention magazine. The potatoes use buttermilk to make them creamy. I bought Yukon Gold potatoes, which are plenty creamy on their own, so I might leave the buttermilk out.
**Moroccan Chicken with Lentils--This dish appeared on my last menu plan, but I never made it. We had the roti chicken one night, and I ended up making pizza so we could sit on the couch and watch football on Sunday, so I'll try this dish this week.

What are you eating this week?

Making Resolutions That Stick

I'm a big believer in New Year's Resolutions. None of us will ever be perfect, but continually striving to improve myself and my life is something that I enjoy. Each January, I make a handful of goals for the new year, and then spend my year working on those goals. Even if I don't meet my goal, I have not failed, rather, I see it as a work in progress.

For example, one of my resolutions for the past several years has been to improve the way we eat. One year, I started reading food labels more closely; another year, I reduced the amount of packaged food we buy; in 2008, I used less white flour and more whole wheat flour, and started moving away from refined sugar.

Another long term goal was to organize my house, purge unnecessary or unused items, and make due with what we have instead of buying more stuff. With the help of Freecycle and a brother with a new baby, I've passed on a lot of the things we weren't using and have not replaced the empty space with more stuff.

About a year ago, I wrote about my goal of quitting soda. I'm sorry to say I'm not quite there yet, but I'm still working on it, and that goal has been added to my list for 2009.

I attribute my high rate of "resolution success" to the simple fact that I choose goals that are attainable. It would be ridiculous for me to say I'd like to climb Mount Everest this year, when I've never been mountain climbing in my life. It would be sheer folly to resolve to run a marathon when my knees are shot and lingering joint pain keeps me from running to the end of the block. It doesn't matter how good oatmeal is for me, I'm not going to resolve to eat it everyday, because I can't stand oatmeal.

For 2009, I've been feeling sort of run down and tired a lot lately and don't think I'm as healthy as I could be. I stopped exercising regularly awhile ago, after I injured my knee running. Although my weight is in the healthy range for my height, I feel vaguely puffy and my clothes don't fit the way I think they should, and I'm fairly certain that my body fat percentage is probably too high. So one of my resolutions for this year is to exercise more regularly, tighten up, feel more energetic and maybe even lose 5-10 pounds.

I'm also a big believer in doing my research to back up my actions, so for this goal, I decided I can't lose weight until I know exactly how much food I am eating.

To do that, I went to Prevention's website and signed up to use their free health trackers. I used the calorie calculator to figure out what I need to eat, and then I entered everything I eat into the Food Journal for several days.

Calorie requirements are calculated based on age, weight, height, gender and activity level. I chose moderately active, because I stand quite a bit per day (particularly if I'm at work) and I spend a reasonable amount of time lifting my kids and playing with them. The calculator put my requirement to maintain my weight at just under 2300 calories per day. It also suggested that if I want to lose weight, I cut 200 calories from my diet and add exercise to burn an additional 300.

I turned to the food journal to see exactly where I needed to cut calories, expecting that it would be from sweets. Imagine my surprise when after a week of entering every single bite to eat, my average caloric intake was right around 1500 calories! No wonder I feel so tired, no wonder my body has been clinging to weight! I've been inadvertently starving myself, and in order to feel healthier, I actually need to eat more.

It is tempting to eat more sweets to reach that calorie goal, but that's not a healthy choice either. Instead, on days when I know I haven't had enough to eat, I have been using the milkshake maker we got for Christmas to make smoothies. Plain, fat-free yogurt, ground flaxseed and fresh fruit all come together to make a tasty and healthy snack.

The rest of my dietary goals for this year include:

**Drink more water--Staying hydrated is a proven way for me to avoid chronic headaches.
**Eat breakfast regularly and early in the day--This one is a hard one for me, because I'm not a breakfast person. It's not unusual for my day to be approaching lunchtime and I haven't had anything to eat yet. In order to meet this goal, I'm trying to plan in advance and have healthy, fast and easy breakfast options available so I'm not chewing on my own arm come noon.
**Continue to plan dinners in advance and also plan lunch and breakfast--I tend to make unhealthy choices when pressed for time and when I don't have the best options available. By making healthy foods staples and by thinking ahead, I can avoid eating foods that aren't good for me.
**Pencil exercise into my day--I'm considering joining a gym with childcare, because this whole exercising outside thing isn't working. It's too cold, or too hot, or raining, or the kids want to go to the playground instead. A few hours in gym childcare won't hurt them. I also need to make sure exercise is one of the first things I do each day, instead of leaving it until last and running out of opportunities.

We'll see how it goes. I'm excited to work on my new goals, and I'll be posting updates.

Do you have any resolutions for 2009? What tools are you using to reach them?

Tutu Cute

My mom got Maureen this sparkly aqua tutu for Christmas and Maureen obliged her by immediately putting it on and running around.

She wants to wear it over her regular clothes all the time.

"What? Who says trucks are for boys? I'm wearing my TUTU!!!!"


Here she is zoning out in front of the TV...still wearing the tutu.


You know, somehow I think I could get used to this girly stuff...

Basic Lexicon

play·date

Pronunciation:
\'plā-,dāt\
Function:
noun
Date:
1984

:a play session for small children arranged in advance by their parents
***************************************************************************

Right before Christmas break from school, the mother of one of Johnny's friends said to me, "We should get the kids together for a playdate. I'll call you."

I said back, "Great!"

I know what the word "playdate" means now, but I can guarantee it's a word I never, ever uttered before I had kids.

It's just one of those things...when I hear the word come out of my mouth, a tiny voice, wayyyyy in the back of my brain says, "Holy crap, what happened to you?" (Sort of like what happens when my brother talks about how Janie and Jack make quality kids clothes. Only I say it out loud to him.)

Also on the list of words I never said before are "sippy cup," "breast pump," and "Bumbo."

How about you?