Still a housewife

I put blogging aside for the past year in an effort to make sense out of what's going on in our government and in the world of politics. It's hard to write about washing dishes and making beds when you're half scared to death by the horrendous things happening in our country. 'Nuff said. This blog isn't for political viewpoints. You can find those at my other blog, Politics Out Loud. Don't go there if you're an avid Obama supporter.

But meanwhile, life goes on and I've missed writing this blog. I swear, once or twice a day something happens that I think to myself "I should blog about that!"... and then haven't. Now I will.

My days right now seem to be taken up with babysitting Mr. B., who is now four and a half and in preschool two days a week! How did that happen so fast?

Earlier this week I read an interesting article titled "Are we raising a generation of nincompoops?" and it gave me some new motivation for my desire to teach Mr. B the basics of living a good, responsible, productive life. Yesterday was the first babysitting day since reading the article, so I asked him to help me cook lunch - a first.

You have to understand, his lunch is exactly the same every day. Pasta. Pasta and cheese sauce or pasta and spaghetti sauce. More about living with a 4 yr old picky eater in a future post. For now, understand that he has agreed (somewhat reluctantly) to TRY new foods. He understands the concept of "eating healthy" and talks about it frequently ("Is this healthy, Umma?"), but talking about it and actually eating healthy (fruits, vegetables, meats) are two different things.

I thought perhaps having him help me cook his lunch, allowing him to pick out the fruit or vegetable to try that day, would encourage him to eat better. And it worked!

I use Dreamfield's Pasta (tastes exactly like "real" pasta, but is lower in carbs and high in fiber, since he doesn't get much fiber in his diet) and Ragu Cheese Sauce. I had him fill the pan with water, and I set it on the stove and turned it on. He filled a measuring cup with the uncooked macaroni, and was allowed to pour the macaroni into the boiling water (very supervised) and put in a pinch of salt. He then set the timer, and we waited for the pasta to cook. Meanwhile, I gave him a list of vegetables available, and he chose green beans, so we opened up the can and put those in a pan, and I put them on the stove to warm up. Once the macaroni was cooked, I poured it into the strainer, and he then transferred it back to the pan, and put in as much cheese sauce as he wanted (which wasn't much), and dish it onto his plate. I added the green beans, poured a glass of milk, and voila! lunch!

Once he picks his fruit or vegetable for lunch, he is asked to eat three bites - one to get the food IN his mouth, second to actually taste the food, and third as an opportunity to develop a taste for it. I am pleased that he actually ate SEVEN green beans!

No photos - since yesterday I didn't realize I'd be blogging again. I'll try harder.

I will update here that my daughter is doing an excellent job as a single mom. How can I tell? Because Mr. B. says "Please," "Thank you," and "Excuse me" automatically. For me, that says she's paying attention to the details.

Here's the big guy himself, ready for his first day of preschool. May he always look this happy about going to school!