dipping

Jonathan is going through a phase where he LOVES to dip food in, well, anything. It started with graham crackers in milk (my personal favorite), but now he insists on dipping his waffles in his yoghurt at breakfast. Two nights ago at dinner he kept picking things up and saying "dip?". When he finally realized there was going to be no dipping, he opted to get down and not eat dinner- not a single bite. So last night, I wised up and served pasta with the sauce on the side- for dipping. Huge hit. He even dipped his grapes in spaghetti sauce (he seemed to think it tasted great). Any suggestions out there for healthy, low prep dipping sauces? I get the feeling I'm going to need to have some ideas on hand for the next few weeks at least!

1st Week Back

So this was our first week back in the full swing of things. Me at work (with students), Jonathan at preschool, and Jim and I not doing crazy tag-team parenting. And it was a rough week- particularly for Jonathan. Every day on his preschool summary sheet there is some comment to the effect of "Jonathan is still tearful most of the morning". I know my kiddo, and he doesn't do 'tearful'; he does 'wailing sobs' and he does 'fall on the floor screaming', but passively 'tearful' I find hard to believe. Jim said as he started crying as they walked into the building to bring him to school today. By this afternoon when I came home, he had started to loose his voice (I can only assume because of screaming so much). Poor little guy. It is a big transition after being at home all summer- new teachers, new classroom, sleeping on a cot instead of a crib, lots of other screaming kiddos. I wish I had a way to soften the transition. Thankfully it is Friday and so he has two days to regroup at home before back to the grind on Monday.

Hi!

One of Jonathan's recent word acquisitions is "Hi". He says it with incredible enthusiasm in his voice and this cute little floppy-wristed wave. And as if that wasn't cute enough, today he started talking to his stomach. He lifts up his t-shirt, sticks out his tummy, waves and says "Hi!" Then, he pulls his shirt back down, waves again and says "Bye-bye". Hilarious.

mothering and selfishness

I have a problem with asking for what I want. To need or want something that takes any amount of time or money or inconvenience from someone else makes me feel incredibly guilty. I think this is a female thing- I'm pretty sure we have evolved to be self-sacrificing as a mothering instinct, because I see this coming out like crazy with Jonathan.

Typical example: We are eating lunch and after having a taste of my cottage cheese, Jonathan decides he likes it. So I feed him all of mine, spoonful by spoonful (without having any myself for fear he won't get his fill) until it is gone. Then I feel mildly guilty for having eaten any since he now wants more and we are out, and leave lunch a little hungry.

Prioritizing obtaining food for your child = good.

Guilt about enjoying a spoonful of cottage cheese = bad.

Today my yoga class was scheduled to go an extra 30 minutes to incorporate a breathing workshop. And I almost decided not to go because it would mean that Jim would *have* to watch Jonathan for another 30 min after I had (selfishly) been at work all day. (it sounds crazier and crazier to me even as I type it). But I needed to work out and to relax and this was the perfect solution. Jim convinced me I should go (he knows what I need better than I do most of the time) and so I did. It was fantastic. It was exactly what I needed. And no one suffered because I was out of the house for 90 minutes. Why can I only see these things in hindsight?