Table for four, please.

If you know me (and if you're one of the 3 readers of this blog, I assume you do) you know that I make dinner. Every night. I did it before I had kids, much to my coworkers amazement, and I did it with one child, starting the "family dinner" tradition as soon as Henry was able to sit in a highchair. Now, with two children, I still make dinner every night, and expect that there will be four of us sitting around the table for some amount of time, as food is eaten.

Any image you just had of a "traditional family dinner" is most likely incorrect. Unless, it had these elements: loud screaming mixed with screeching, parents jumping up intermittently to fetch something from the kitchen, complaints about what is being eaten (verbal and nonverbal), and the absolute shovelin g of food into an adult's mouth before the next crisis occurs. Now, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I firmly believe in the importance of family dinner time, and although many of the advertised benefits of family dinnertime won't impact my children for another 5 years or so, I will stubbornly continue this practice, though it may shorten my lifespan due to increased blood pressure from 6:00-6:30 pm every evening. Oh, who am I kidding - the cooking of this dinner has the same affect on my heart health. Make that 5:00-6:30 pm.

Anyway, in effort to be somewhat informative and helpful (and not scare others from having children), I wanted to list the meals that seem to work for a one year old, an almost four year old, a 30 year old who eats as if he is 11, and me - a wannabe gourmet, trapped among lovers of "kid food".

Tonight was a particularly successful evening, with "16-Minute Beef and Bean Burritos". All four of us seemed to like these. Recipe from The Pioneer Woman's website: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/brown-hot-and-plenty-of-it-vol-i/

Other favorites include:

Fish sticks with Macaroni and Cheese. I thought I would detest fish sticks, but this brand, Dr. Praeger's, is actually quite good and made with all natural ingredients. http://www.drpraegers.com/Lightly-Breaded-Fish-Sticks-P69C64.aspx

Microwave Lasagna. (GASP!) Microwave?!?! It's amazingly easy, and has no meat but lots of spinach. Thumbs up from mom! http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/microwave-lasagna-00000000042247/index.html

Tender Pork Roast. A crockpot favorite. This takes about 5 minutes in the morning to put together, and yields a very tasty tender main course. Add some rice and a veggie and you're good to go. Best of all, the leftover meat can be made into sandwiches for lunch the next day.http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/tender-pork-roast/Detail.aspxhttp://allrecipes.com//Recipe/tender-pork-roast/Detail.aspx

Shepherd's Pie. A favorite of mine from growing up. Ground beef, onion, tomato soup (yes, I'm trying to get processed food out of our diet, but sometimes there just is no substitute!), green beans, garlic powder and basil are mixed together and topped with mashed potatoes. A perfect meal for a cold day, and one that is devoured by all who eat it!

That's all I'll include for now, but know that I do manage to feed everyone dinner at the table, every day. Yes, it's a big challenge for me (planning the meals, shopping for the food, making the meal, and then taking lost of deep breaths as it is consumed) but it's something I believe in. And, I hope, it's something that my kids will do for their families someday, just because it's the way things should be. :-)

The details of my day...

I've always been tempted to have one day where I post totally honest, real Facebook statuses all day, for a whole day. You know, talking about kids' poop, my foibles and shortcomings as a mother, things that will someday embarrass my children to no end. You know, keeping it REAL.

But partway through today, I decided to put in a blog what all I do in a given day. Around noon, after I'd simultaneously been productive and encountered many moments I'm not proud of, I thought it would be a good day for this. A real day, not one I've chosen to make me look good.

5:54 - Awaken to Miriam's screams. Rush to go get her so she doesn't waken her brother. Too late. Try to convince Henry to get back in bed, it's too early. "I have to pee pee!" he says. "Take yourself to the bathroom then!" I reply. Henry remains in a heap in the doorway of his room. I step over him and go make Miriam's morning milk bottle.

6:00 - Return to bed to feed Miriam her bottle in a half-asleep state.

6:15 - Henry, having remained in a heap in the doorway of his room (Bad Mommy Moment.) He complains loudly, "I HAVE TO PEE PEE!" I kick Luke out of bed to take him to the bathroom.

6:20 - Miriam finishes the bottle. Luke is in the bedroom to grab a sweatshirt and I hand him the baby.

6:50 - Luke comes in and begs me for another 20 minutes of sleep. I trade with him.

6:55 - My morning routine begins. I change Miriam's diaper, get her dressed since her PJs were soaked with pee, I feed the cats, I make coffee. (I'm sure I checked my email in there somewhere. Just keeping it real...!)

7:20 - I waken Luke again and tell him to get in the shower.

7:40 - I tell him to get out of the shower because I need to get in and want some hot water. Please.

8:00 - Kissing Luke goodbye, I begin on the kids' breakfasts. Frozen waffles it is! Miriam gets a side of cottage cheese and peaches. Henry doesn't "yike" those things.

8:20 - Miriam is done eating. She is covered in cottage cheese. After a clothing change, she's ready for the day, again. Henry emerges from his room. Where has he been for the last 15 minutes?!?? "SURPRISE!" he yells! He dressed himself. Just as I'm about to compliment him, he shouts, "DON'T LOOK AT ME!!!" Um, okay then!

8:25 - Realizing I've only had coffee so far today, I slam a Greek yogurt while checking email, Facebook, and my message board. I don't type anything because I'm eating, but it's my favorite kind of multitasking. Eating and reading things on the computer. High point of my day so far!

8:30 - It's a short high point, because it's time to get out the door for preschool. Coats, shoes, hat and mittens for Henry, aaaaaand out the door.

8:45 - Early to preschool! I get a great parking spot and with the extra moments, I take Henry to the bathroom while we wait for the door to open.

8:55 - Henry eagerly goes into his classroom. I halfheartedly wave a goodbye that he doesn't see. He's growing up.

9:05 - Back home, I put Miriam down for a nap.

9:10 - Make a list of what I want to accomplish this morning. Here's the list: Put away laundry, Make dinner in crockpot, Plan dinners for this week, Clean Bathroom, Call mom and dad, Clean up kitchen from breakfast, Put more pens in the pencil cup on the computer desk. I'm a list person who believes no item is too inconsequential to put on the list. Can you tell?

9:20 - Call my mom. While talking to her about their big move to Milwaukee, I clean up the kitchen, get dinner in the crock pot, and put more pens in the pencil cup. Check, check, and check!

10:00 - Hang up with mom, plan meals for this week and make a grocery list.

10:10 - Put a load of laundry in the washing machine - today is bathroom rugs and towels.

10:15 - Miriam wakes up, and I put laundry away now that I can get in the kids' bedroom! I eat the other half of my breakfast - a waffle leftover from Sunday's breakfast. I hand Miriam a 1/4 waffle and lazily let her roam. This is new because I usually make her sit in her seat. I later regret this when more than half of it ends up on the floor in front of the TV. I'll deal with that later.

10:50 - Gotta get to the store if I'm going to do it before picking Henry up! I gather my list, a snack for Miriam, the diaper bag, my keys, my wallet, etc. and quickly pack Miriam up and head to the grocery store. On the way out, I manage to bonk her temple into the car door. She now has a black eye. Bad Mommy Moment!

10:40-11:30 - Rush through grocery store. Try out new "scan as you go" system. I don't recommend it. Pain in the behind! Miriam screams through all but 2 aisles of the store. Bad Mommy Moment - I completely ignore this. She wants me to hold her while I push the cart. Not an option. So I let her go. Fortunately, the seas part and the other customers in every aisle let me through, no hassles!

11:35 - Arrive at preschool. Realize Miriam has needed a diaper change for hours. She's soaking through to her pants. Proceed to change her diaper in the back of the car for all of Mass Ave to see. Bad Mommy Moment.

11:45 - Pick up Henry. He decides it would be fun to play hide and seek in the parking lot. Falls, gets mud all over his hands and pants. A time out and a wardrobe change occurs back at home. This is why it takes me 2 hours to fold laundry on Monday nights.

12:00 - Begin making lunch. Macaroni and cheese with mixed veggies and a side of pears for the kids, leftover spaghetti for me. While lunch is cooking, I bring in groceries and unload them.

12:40 - Lunch over, get Miriam down for her nap.

1:00 - Begin cleaning up kitchen. There are no fewer than 20 pieces of macaroni (and cheese) on the floor along with chunks of carrot, pear, etc. Use the dustbuster to attack waffle crumbs by the TV.

1:15 - Decide that it sounds like too much work to get Henry contained for QBT (Quiet Bedroom Time). I let him play a "Caillou" computer game instead. Bad Mommy Moment. I finish the kitchen and tackle the cleaning chore of the day - the bathroom. In between the shower and toilet and sink, I'm running to the computer to "fix" the game for Henry. I elect to skip the tile in the shower. Does it really NEED to be cleaned, anyway?

1:30 - Luke's mom calls. Talk to her for a little while. It's nice to catch up!

1:40 - I kick Henry off the computer and tell him he must play quietly. He does. Mostly. I indulge in my weekly Tuesday obsession. Checking Bachelor Brad and Chris Harrison's blogs having to do with the previous night's episode of The Bachelor. Guilty as charged.

2:00 - Henry wants to play. I sit down on the floor to play with him. I try to play restaurant. I try to play cars. I suggest building a train. Everything I do is wrong. I give up.

2:20 - Miriam wakes up. She needs a diaper change. Henry assists. As Miriam is squirming away and getting Desitin all over me, the rug in the kids' room and her outfit, Henry says, "Do you want to cry mommy?" He was responding to my desperate whimper. "Yes," I say. "Sometimes. It's like changing the diaper of an octopus." He comes over and gives me a very tender hug. "Do you feel better?" "Yes," I say. "That makes it a lot better."

2:40 - After I change her diaper, I start packing snacks for our next adventure - a walk with Lisa. Quickly put the towels in the dryer before heading out.

2:45 - Not so fast! Luke calls. I encourage him as he's in the final stretch of his busy semester. Almost there, honey!

3:15 - Arrive at Lisa's. Unload the double stroller from the car. Put snacks, pacifier, wallet, cell phone, hats and mittens in an accessible part of the stroller so they can be reached as we roll along.

4:00 - Arrive at Starbucks. Use cash so Luke doesn't know about this indulgence. ;-) Decaf coffee and a new treat - a salted caramel square. Yummmmmm. Henry opts for a mini donut instead of his usual vanilla milk.

4:30 - Stop in Trader Joe's for a few items. (2nd grocery store of the day.)

4:40 - Henry begs to stop at playground on the way back to Lisa's. We attempt to get there but can't access through the ice covered field. I think Henry made me pay for this failure until he went to bed tonight... More on that later.

5:10 - Arrive back at the car.

5:12 - While I'm packing up, Henry bites his sister's leg while she's confined in the car seat and he isn't yet. He'll have a time out until Daddy gets home, once we get there ourselves.

5:20 - Arrive at home. Polish up dinner by making rice, doing a few things to what's in the crock pot. Steam some broccoli, set the table.

5:50 - Luke arrives home as I'm picking up toys in the toy room and living room. I inform him his first duty is talking to Henry, who has been in his room for almost half an hour. Sigh.

6:10 - Sit down for family dinner. Henry never does sit down, and is told his next meal is breakfast. Miriam covers her whole face in tomato sauce. She looks like she either has a sunburn or is an Oompa Loompa.

6:40 - Start bath time. Run down to get the towels out of the dryer. Luke bathes the kids while I get everything else ready for night. I get the bedrooms and and the dining room picked up.

7:00 - Miriam gets her nighttime bottle and is put to bed by 7:10.

7:10 - Feeling brain-dead, I stare blankly at the computer. This continues for a long time. It's the longest I've sat down all day. But I'm not accomplishing anything. Not emails, not even this blog. It's like I'm sleeping with my eyes open. Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

7:30 - I help Henry pee pee, and brush his teeth. Luke and I tuck him in to bed, but not until after "yaying wif him" (laying with him) for a few minutes. The challenge is not to fall asleep while you're in there.

7:40 - I pick up the bath toys and tidy the bathroom.

7:45 - I return to this list of my daily activities. The kitchen still needs to be cleaned up. Luke should be studying for his final exam but is watching a Harvard basketball game on his computer. I should motivate him. But I sit here instead. Wow, I am tired!!

8:20 - Having caught up with real time in this blog, I fear I must DO something with myself. Aaaaaand I get up from the computer.

8:40 - Kitchen clean! Mission accomplished. Time for the couch. It awaits.

My plans for the rest of the night:

Sitting. Vegging. Maybe some wine if I don't think it'll make me fall asleep in 2 minutes flat. Bed. Hopefully no later than 10:30.

The End. (It was a good day. No, a great day. And I'm ready to do it alllllll again, tomorrow.)

On Decluttering

By popular demand... :-)

Part of living in Boston is having smaller quarters than you might have in other parts of the country. That said, we do feel very blessed to have a house (a LITTLE ranch house) to ourselves. One of the best things about our little house is that it has massive amounts of storage. We have a little over 1000 square feet on the main level, but we have an attic with the same amount of space, and a basement with almost as much. For us, this is the key to the decluttering.

A few months ago, my very wise mother in law and I were discussing my dissatisfaction about my house and the fact that I felt we were bursting at the seams. And honestly, we kind of were! There are 4 of us in these 1000 square feet, and it can be a tight fit.

At the time the most challenging thing we were dealing with was the bedroom scenario. Two bedrooms and four people. It's an easy division problem, but the reality of two kids in one room was daunting and worrisome for me. Thankfully, with a little prep for our 3.5 year old, and some sleep training for our (at the time) 10-month-old we were able to move the kids in together. This act alone made us feel like we had added a bedroom on to our house. Luke and I were thrilled to have our bedroom back so we could quit sneaking in there at night in the dark and stubbing our toes on the crib, or one of the other 5 pieces of furniture in the tiny room. Anyway, this wasn't really part of the decluttering, so I digress...

Back to my mother in law -- she and I were talking about how cluttered the main level of our house was feeling. She is a very organized and NEAT person (in more ways than one, hardeeharhar!). So we decided that on her next visit, we'd tackle decluttering and organizing closets, cabinets, bookshelves, and any other storage space in the house. The goal: anything that isn't used on a WEEKLY basis should be stored in the attic or basement. This way, the main level is all about function. There were a few exceptions. All medications and other first aid items would stay on this level, clothes that fit in the closets could stay, files in filing drawers aren't going to be replaced with anything more useable, so they'd stay. But that Bundt pan I only use once or twice a year - basement. The guest sheets that are used 6 or 8 times a year - basement. Extra light bulbs, batteries, picture hanging brackets, etc. - basement. By doing this, my storage space opened up so that I wasn't doing the whole "shove it in the closet and push the door closed fast, hoping it all fits in without falling on you" routine. This really helped me to feel like our place was bigger! Having storage space to "grow into" really helps you to feel like you have enough space.

We also went through those areas that tend to collect random items (for us our mudroom, and the shelves just inside both the front and back doors are these areas) and decluttered and organized so there is a "home" for all items. Knowing where you put extra buttons, coins, random business cards, notices from preschool, etc., is key in keeping your home neat.

So in decluttering/organizing, there are two phases:

Phase One, Decluttering your home

1. Decide on a week when you'll work on this task. Plan to let go of some other chore or chores so you have extra time for the task.

2. Select one room per day that you'll declutter. More than that will make you feel overwhelmed.

3. Decide that every item you touch needs to have a destination - the donation box, trash, storage somewhere in your home, or put "away". You may need to invest in bins, baskets, filing storage, etc. If you really want to only buy storage solutions you NEED, you could assess at the end of the day what you might need to purchase.

4. You'll know you're done when you have a clear vision of where every item in the room should be. Hopefully you'll be looking at a totally clutter-free room when you're finished.

5. When you're in the process of going room-to-room to declutter, you have to commit to implementing Phase Two every night on the rooms you've already tackled in Phase One.

Phase Two, Nightly Pick-Up

1. This is key for keeping your home clutter-free.

2. Go from room to room of your home, picking up only one room at a time.

3. Every item you touch needs to be either a) put back where it goes, if you've already picked up that room, or b) tossed into the room to be dealt with later, if you've yet to pick up in there.

4. At the end of your Nightly Pick-Up, every room should be "as it should be". In my case, this happens around 8:00 pm, and thankfully, it stays that way until morning. I will say, that with 2 little kids, and a husband who isn't as "clutter-concerned" as I am, it usually doesn't last quite 12 hours. But it's still worth it!

So that's my story. I've already shared it with Lisa (Hi again!) but I thought I'd pass it on. So from Marie to me, and me to you, good luck! And remember - don't let the "good" be the enemy of the "perfect". I have a pile of papers next to me on the desk that don't fall into the "decluttered" home. But that's okay. Successive approximation is just fine and won't hurt anyone!