Bird on the Street

Sins of the Father

10:28 am

When I first met my husband (in 1998), he was a total fitness and nutrition nut. The kind of person who evaluated every meal in terms of grams of protein. Food was fuel and taste was completely secondary. We ruined a lot of good recipes in those days.

Some time after we got married, things started to slide, we were cooking a lot, experimenting in the kitchen, and you know what? Fattening food tastes better! Two adults smiling at child

But about a year ago, Hubby got the itch again and hopped back on the fitness and nutrition bandwagon. It started innocently enough, but before I knew it, he’d shed forty-five pounds at we were at JC Penney buying all new clothes. I think we’re done now. Heck, we better be done, we can’t afford another new wardrobe. How’s mama supposed to go to blog conferences if Dad’s buying all these new clothes?

So a fit and healthy husband is a good thing, right? I should be over the moon or something.

There’s just one hitch:

Hubby has trouble turning off the nutrition thing and meals with Charlie can get a bit heated.

At almost three and a half, Charlie is starting to get pretty opinionated about his food. Many, many foods are deemed “unworthy.” Public enemy number one is chicken. He doesn’t want it; don’t give it to him; don’t even say the word, people. He’s also developed a deep love for macaroni and cheese. Clearly he’s his mother’s child. His love for The Mac is so great that oftentimes, I cook up a box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese and then just disguise bits of chicken and vegetables inside. He’d probably eat a sock if I topped it with a cheesy shell first.

This stuff is killing Hubby. In his opinion, protein=all that is good and right in the world and carbohydrates=evil. Cheese isn’t high on his list either, but I think it does contain a smidgen of protein so it’s not as bad as noodles.

I understand his concerns, but Charlie is three. lots of three-year-olds are picky and really, I don’t think he’s all that picky. He’ll take at least one bite of anything, but if he doesn’t feel like eating it, he’s done. I just can’t see getting all worked up over a toddler’s diet. He’s growing, he’s gained almost a pound since starting school, he eats absolutely no sugar. This is a kid who used to eat through a tube! How sad can I get when he prefers cheesy carbs over lean protein?

So what do you guys think? Here’s a list of foods that Charlie pretty much eats every time:

mac ‘n’ cheese (cue a choir of angels)

bread

peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (no sugar added)

poached eggs

beans and rice (Mexican or Cajun)

Shredded beef

Spaghetti and meatballs

Fettuccine Alfredo

Green beans

Here are some things he eats more than half the time:

Shrimp

Salad with dressing

hash browns

corn

carrots

cucumbers in vinegar

Here’s what he won’t touch:

Chicken

Corn chips

Sweets

Clearly we need to work on fruits and vegetables, but are we in dire straights? I’m thinking no.

Filed Underparenting

Gifts for Teachers and Therapists

11:57 am

If your kid is like mine, they’ve got a lot of “professionals” in their life. As a baby, Charlie had four therapists that came to the house. Now, his classroom at school has one main teacher and three aides–all of whom could carry the title “substitute mommy.”

A lot of people struggle with good ideas on what you can buy your children’s teacher. You want to show that your appreciative, but man oh man, that Christmas budget is already pretty tight.

Soooo. . . I put together a little video blog about the gifts I made for Charlie’s teachers this year. My favorite part is that you are completely in control of the amount of money spent–it’s up to you completely and this can be done at almost any price point.

A word about my video blog:

no makeup? check

wild and crazy hair? check

slouching? sadly, check

Charlie making noise in the background? again, check

If you were hoping for a professional video, this isn’t it.

For those of you who can’t/don’t do videos–the concept is simple. Take a cute holiday container and fill it with the sorts of snack that you really wish you had at about three o’clock on a week day. Schools have heaps of legislation that prevent them from offering yummy snacks and even if they do, they’re usually expensive. Fill a container with small sized trail mix, granola bars, etc. and most teachers will be thrilled.

Filed Underother stuff

Um, What?

7:20 pm

The other day we were waiting at the post office. I live on the edge of civilization and so there a lot of people who use P.O. Boxes in the area. On this particular day, I was waiting about five years while a woman was trying to get something settled with her box and the one and only employee kept heading into the back to check on things.

Meanwhile, Charlie is doing his thing where he “talks”–lots of screeching/growling. I’m talking back–trying to keep him calm because waiting in lines is not high on his list of awesome activities.

The woman in front of me asked me how old he was and I told her, “he’s three, but he has special needs, so he can’t really talk yet.”

And you know what she said?

She’s said, “well, what’s his super-power?”

My response was somewhere in the neighborhood of “whaaaaa????” and then she explained, “you know, when one sense doesn’t work, another one works really well.”

I wasn’t sure how to answer that, so I said something non-committal and then thankfully it was her turn in line.

But really? What was that? I don’t even think talking is a sense. And while I don’t think it bears explanation, special needs does not equal “super power.” Unless we’re talking super-cute because I think Charlie’s got that one in the bag.

I could easily make this post all about people who say crazy stuff about children with disabilities, but why discriminate? There’s plenty of crazy to go around.

When I was in Vegas for Blog World Expo, I took a taxi to the air port. At this point, Vegas had started to work her magic on me. By magic, I mean dehydration. So I was a little spacey. I got into the cab and the driver asked me if I’d enjoyed my stay. I told him it was nice, but that Vegas wasn’t really my style. I told him, “I’m from New Orleans–there are lots of bars and entertainment there, but it’s a little more organic.” (organic is code for old and dirty)

To which he replied, “Yeah, but it’s not safe. Here, a woman can dress like a pr0stitute and never worry about being kidnapped.”

Again, whaaaaa??????I mean, are women everywhere sticking their hootchie clothes in the back of the closet for fear of kidnapping? Is that really an endorsement of Las Vegas? I’m not sure.

I stopped talking after that. I mean, Miss Manners has yet to cover the appropriate response to a statement like that and I wasn’t about to attempt one. There’s really no good place to go after h00kers and kidnapping, know what I mean?

So, what’s the weirdest thing someone has said to you lately? boy smiles