Oh hello there! Nice of you to stop by. I thoughtI would take a moment and share with my current state with you.
You see, I’m going through a situation. A situation directly related to my kitchen—where I spend a lot of time. Unfortunately, I’m not doing fun things- Nope! Fun things require work! Fun things mean that I have 6 extra bowls on the counter and 30 things to put away…It also means that I have floors to clean and have to wipe the food off my camera THEN find a way to upload photos before I lose the steam I had that started it all in the first place. All this while nap time is happening! Which is changing greatly at this stage.
My situation also includes a cute little toddler who is testing my limits. One day he LOVED spinach and eggs soo much that I made a second batch and he devoured it! SPINACH! PROTEIN! DING DING DING. I was so proud of him, that I pulled that “hit of a meal” out for him today and he hates it and throws it at me. It’s like a kick in the balls. It makes me NOT want to make a mess in the kitchen and clean it up if I have to deal with this. And don’t get me started on the food waste…Oh lord the food waste!
This has all stirred up flashbacks of when I was a kid—- I’m sitting at the dinner table leading to a complaining session with my brothers “CHICKEN AGAIN MOM?!!” My mom knew that it was something most of us would like and she didn’t want to put the energy into something that might never get appreciated. I feel her. I know you are reading this mom, and maniacally laughing on the inside. I bet it tickles you! 🙂
It makes me realize that I am getting it back. There’s more to come, but I see it. It makes sense. We don’t appreciate what our parents do for us until we get a taste of it ourselves. This is the royal “I TOLD YOU SO.” And yes, I am being hit with it. It’s especially hard when I am a mom who can’t WAAAAAIT for my kid’s FIRST TACO or his FIRST donut. I live for food, and I can’t UNDERSTAND WHY MY KID DOESN’T LIKE PASTA! He doesn’t have to worry about not fitting into skinny jeans! Embrace an alfredo sauce!! Savor every tortellini, KID!
So, back to this situation. How am I venturing through it? I’m testing the waters and seeing what I can throw on Cooper’s tray without him sensing my urgency and hope that he’ll eat it. It actually worked today. The kid liked red bell peppers and I wouldn’t’ have known until I took that leap. I am not cooking elaborate meals for him like I was doing. I am taking it slow and seeing what he is into…and how my presentation changes things.
I’ve also spent the past two days reading up on kid-friendly foods and techniques. As a result, my kitchen looks pretty clean! There’s a lack of dishes piled everywhere on my counter and in my sink. I’ve actually put things back to where they belong and have kept some type of order in my life *aka kitchen.* I cleaned out my fridge and tossed soo much unusable stuff it would make one cry. The worst part of it is that I actually like it. I like knowing that at the end of the day I don’t have at least an hour’s worth of cleaning in the kitchen left to do before I get to sit and relax.
So, I’ve been taking a break from getting my hands dirrrrrrty. I am regrouping and finding some time to collect myself. I am being a mother and putting time into tackling this food thing with my son. I am not going to let it get me down, because what will that accomplish? It’s energy I have to put in. So that when I get back in the kitchen again to PLAY, I am gonna appreciate every single crumb and
I am being a mother and putting time into tackling this food thing with my son. I am not going to let it get me down, because what will that accomplish? It’s energy I have to put in, so that when I get back in the kitchen again to PLAY, I am gonna appreciate every single crumb and pile of sticky goo I create on the counter. Because—HOT DAMN, it was fun. And then maybe, Coop can enjoy some of my hard work- for real.
See you real soon, promise!
