Savannah usually watches Hi-5 on TLC in the mornings from 7 to 7:30. She is always out of bed at 7 on the dot, and that gives me time to wake up, gives Sawyer time to get the morning grumps out, time to get him changed and fed, and we're all much happier by the time her show is done. Many mornings if she can manage to multi-task and get dressed and maybe eat some breakfast while this is on, I'll then let her continue to watch tv till 8. By then Sawyer's happy, I can take a quick peek at blogs and email and we still have plenty of time to finish getting ready for school or get going on whatever we're doing for the day. But that's it. We rarely have the tv on anymore after 8. If we do for some reason have it on, we're usually not even watching it and not even in the room. I might put Blue's Clues on at some point if Sawyer's especially hard to keep entertained, but even then he doesn't sit and watch it for more than 5 minutes at a time.
Anyway. Today was a please don't turn off the tv day. That would be me saying please don't turn off the tv, not Savannah asking. I just had a million things I wanted to get done, house stuff, several things on the computer, Sawyer was into everything and pushing each and everyone of Savannah's and my buttons, they were squealing at each other about everything, and we have been so on the go that I just wanted to do nothing. Normally on days when they're in moods like that, I know they need some direction, something fun and different to do. But I just had no motivation. So when Savannah's show would be ending and she would be ready to turn the tv off, I found myself taking the remote from her and flipping through saying, "let's see whatelse is on for you!" All morning. And then when I opened up the fridge at lunchtime to figure out what to feed these kiddos... the June Cleaver in me buried herself even further into hiding and I found myself calling to Savannah to come up from downstairs, "Savannah get your shoes on, we're going to McDonalds!" I know, I'm horrible. I know I know I know. I've already told them we're going to play outside all afternoon though. I'm taking my little breather of me time now during naps and getting a few more things taken care of, and then it's out the back door to have fun for the rest of the day.
I read this on Kim's blog today... made me chuckle because that's exactly how I felt this morning (and way too often!).
If You Give a Mom a Muffin
If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of coffee to go with it. So she'll pour herself some. The coffee will get spilled by her three year old. She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks. She'll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer, She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer. Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.
She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of Hamburger.) The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for the checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old. Bending down to scoop up the contents already on the floor, she'll smell something funny. She'll change the two year old. While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. (Of course!) Her five year old will answer it and hang up.
She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on Friday. Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup. She will pour herself some. And chances are, If she has a cup of coffee, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.
Along the lines of Mother of the Year, you should also know I've resorted to feeding my kid cookies for breakfast lunch and/or dinner. Yep, you read that right. Cookies.
It all started with Sawyer's hunger strike which started out slowly by refusing to eat breakfast. This kid used to demand to eat first thing in the morning and wolf down as much as anyone in this house; waffles, toast, oatmeal, cereal, fruit, you name it. Then that slowly dwindled to a cup of his milk and a banana. Then just half a banana. Then just his milk.
I came across a recipe for Breakfast Cookies.... basically oatmeal cookies with Special K cereal, raisins and other breakfasty things added, (they're really yummy, if you want the recipe let me know). I made up a batch and Sawyer started eating a cookie everyday for breakfast with his banana (even though he usually forgot about the banana).
Meanwhile, his eating habits continued to dwindle. Now I'm not talking about normal toddler pickyness. I'm talking about NOT EATING ANYTHING. Except for graham crackers and milk. Seriously. For days at a time.
So the other day I was trying to come up with a snack to bring to the playdate at Nicole's, and I wanted it to be something the kids would all eat, especially Sawyer since I swear he's lost 5 pounds in the last week. And it had to be something healthy since this would probably be Sawyer's only source of nutrition for the day (if he chose to eat at all, that is).
Lo and behold I found this recipe. Egg-free and Milk-free for Sawyer too! Yay!
| NO FAT BANANA RAISIN COOKIES | |
2 ripe bananas, mashed 1 1/4 c. rolled oats 1 c. whole wheat flour 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 c. raisins 1 tsp. vanilla 1/2 c. apple juice Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. (Batter will be a little stiff.) Drop by teaspoon on a non stick cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Store in air tight container. | |
Now, normally I'm not one for these "healthy" recipes. I'm all for healthy, but I like me some good old fashioned sugar too and I don't usually go out of my way to find completely nutritious recipes for things like cookies or treats. I don't think a little sugar here and there is going to corrupt my kids. Again however, if this was all Sawyer was going to eat....
I was a bit skeptical while mixing these up. Basically oats and wheat... they looked so grainy and dry and reminded me exactly of when Savannah and I made homemade dog biscuits for her grandparent's dogs for Christmas one year. I was like, seriously... a good cookie with no butter or sugar or anything? But then after I got them in the oven they started smelling like good old fashioned yummy banana bread, and I was relieved. I made some without the raisins (I am not a huge raisin fan) and I topped those with a little cinnamon sugar just to add a little more flavor. But they were all good. Really surprisingly good.
Sawyer probably seriously ate close to two dozen that day himself. He loved them. And what do you think he has had for at least part of every meal since then? And what do you think he had for breakfast today?
Is it bad that I feed my kid cookies for breakfast? Even if it's basically the same as a bowl of oatmeal with bananas and raisins, just in a different form? Suppose I'm just setting him up to only eat cookies for the rest of his life....
3 comments:
It will be interesting to hear what the Dr. says about Sawyers eating habits. The cookies seem like a good idea for a healthy SNACK,or maybe breakfast occasionaly.But I'm with you,hate to think that these BAD habits are being formed and will be hard to break. How do you insist on him eating meals or let him go hungry??Then have to deal with a little guy who is unhappy and crying because he is hungry??I sure hope the DR. can give you some advice.
Hey did the robin eggs hatch yet? Our nest of four hatched while we were gone.It was cool watching them ,but it looks like they flew the coop sometime this week.No sign of them today.They sure did keep mama bird busy.:)
Okay...enough Mother of the Year talk...you are a GREAT mom! Enough of the guilt already...this job is tough and we put our all into it...God's grace will cover the rest!
I was actually thinking about this whole eating issue with Ben today too. He is SO picky, and he does not eat very much either. Whenever I talk about it, people say "I just tell my kids that they have to eat what we are eating or they don't eat." Okay...so this would NOT work for Ben. It would become a power struggle and HE would win...not me. He is just that stubborn. We are hoping to channel it into great leadership skills...insert nervous laugh here. Seriously though, we have been supplementing with Pediasure and his Dr. did some testing which was normal. And he eats a lot of pretzels and crackers which does not sound much different from the ingredients in your cookies. I just figure I am riding this wave and eventually he will grow out of it. I just cheer him on when he does eat...it is actually pretty funny because I look and sound like an idiot! :)
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