Mom and Pop (corn)

We're spending a quiet morning discussing our day's plans when the idea of seeing How to Tame Your Dragon was tossed on the table.

"Ok, I'll grab some drinks and pop up a couple of bags of popcorn for it."

Wait, what?

It's no surprise that I expect the kids to finish what's on their plate, will save shopping bags even when I'll never use them again and I refuse to throw away toothpaste until "it's scientifically impossible to get the last drop out," according to Jeff. It's not shocking. Those are all typical products of being from a large family. But I remember as a kid being so bummed out that we couldn't order drinks from McDonald's because we "had them at home" and would leave the park at Disney World to shovel PB & J in our faces and not spend the ridiculous amount of money on the dried-up, over-priced Disney eats. I remember telling myself I wouldn't deny my kids that yummy goodness when I became a mom. But here I am, smuggling granola bars in my pocket in order to save cash and calories.

Am I stripping my kids of the best part of the movies by bringing our own snacks? Or am I a money-conscious, savvy mom who knows where to cut corners in order to still allow my kids to even go to the movies during tough economic times?

Do you ever surprise yourself by parenting like your own parents?

Operation Eat Your Veggies

After five years of kicking, screaming, crying and moping -- all by me -- I finally had enough and decided that the food issues in this house were going to be addressed -- once and for all. Ask any mom, doctor or food eater in the world and everyone has their own opinion. I think I've heard them all. But this time, it was my opinion I followed and I was determined to do it my way and get results. Let's just say the shiitake hit the fan. I call it...


Operation Eat Your (Freakin') Veggies




Day 1: Broccoli I put a tiny piece of broccoli on the kids' plates along with small bites of other foods they like. As they finished the other pieces, they asked for more.

Eat your broccoli and you'll get more. 

Lucy eats it. Brady and Jacob's plates remain on the table. I just happened to have a sitter that night so I could get some shopping started -- yes, just days before Christmas -- so I instructed the sitter (a mom, herself) that they were to eat nothing else. Before I even got out of the car, I had a text that Brady had eaten his broccoli.

I swear I cried.

The next morning, Jacob came skipping down for breakfast.

"Do you want your breakfast warm or cold," I asked. He looked up to see the broccoli sitting on the plate from the night before and looked completely dejected.

The Apple Dumpling Gang

If I could sum up my parenting fail in a word, it would have to be -- FOOD.

When Jacob was almost a year old, we thought it would be so cute to get him his very first "kid's meal." That Sunday afternoon move may have been one of my biggest mistakes -- ever. I have spent every day since bribing, threatening, begging and bargaining, hoping my five-year-old would just eat a meal that wasn't shaped like a dinosaur, covered in pepperoni or come in a color not found in nature. When I do get him to try something, it often ends up in a gag/vomit combo that leaves me on my hands and knees wiping up food that looks nothing like the treats meal I had prepared.