Still Working on Getting Back to Basics—A Menu

I thought that I was being SO smart by giving myself a goal list earlier this week. Just to recap my expectations for myself (the red is what I actually got done):

SUNDAY: My list was short and I got it all done!

• Decide on guest list: No one.
• Inventory freezer for things that are already made: I have sweet potato mash, onion kugel, and chopped herring already made and in the freezer. I can pull at least one of those things out to make for Shabbos.
• Put away last week's dishes.

MONDAY: I wrote the post on Monday—so you would think that I had made progress.

• Inventory fridge and pantry for other "freezable" side items—and make at least one thing: Mango soup will be happening later tonight.
  • I did make mango soup… on Tuesday night. At about 11 pm. After I made bows. I think that I may have a bow problem. I can't stop playing with them. It is like bow crack or something. I need a bow intervention.
• Laundry—or maybe not? We will see how the night goes on this one.
  • I thought about the laundry, but didn't actually do any of it.
• Watch 6 episodes of Glee on Netflix. Check and double check! I did this one, no problem.

TUESDAY:

• Leftover laundry. Or at least start the laundry. Yes. I did start the laundry. WOO HOO! That is a half check!
• Clean the bathrooms—l'cvod Shabbos—I will do a quick once over on Friday morning, but I will get the dirty work done tomorrow. Of course I didn't get this done on Tuesday? Why? Yup. My bowdiction. I did the hallway bathroom this evening.
• Mango soup got made!

WEDNESDAY:

• Clean the floors--l'cvod Shabbos—will spot clean on Friday morning. Unless I do it after I post this, not going to happen.
• Change Sheets-- l'cvod Shabbos—I decided that it is nicer to have fresh sheets RIGHT before Shabbos, so I didn't get this done. What?!? Of course that is the reason it didn't get done!!
• Menu—and I will incorporate things that I already have prepared in the freezer. I will try to double up anything that I make on Thursday to freeze.-- HAHAHAH! I GOT ONE!!
  Menu is below!
• Most of the laundry is finally done.

THURSDAY:

• Shop after school drop off—Probably not a problem.
• Cook starting before school pick up.—Probably a problem. I need to pick the van up from the body shop (don't ask) in the morning, so I don't want to set my expectations of myself too high.
• Finish cooking and have kitchen basically clean by 10 pm (this is a MAJOR stretch, by the way… 10 pm is my witching hour. It is the time I go from an efficient-let's-get-it-down-person to a stalling-let's-play-on-the-computer person… so we shall see).—As long as I hide my ribbon box, this shouldn't be a problem. Doing WAY easy this week.

FRIDAY:

• Set the table.
• Spot clean.
• Relax, do my nails, make a bow, read Dr. Suess, or do some other random non-stressful activity (read: NAP!!)

I wouldn't say that this week was a total failure at getting back to basics. I did get my coupon list together for Wal Greens. I made it over to Target with the kiddos. I took my car in to the shop. I made some things for Shabbos BEFORE Thursday. Time to start looking for successes—and also time to start putting less on my plate.

Without further ado, a BASIC menu (and yes, I know I need to post the recipes. I hope to be back to normal with that… um… next month?):

• Challah—Done and frozen
• Chopped Herring—Done and frozen
• Hummus
  -----
• Meatballs—Quick & Kosher—Why? Just because I am really craving some!-- making triple batch—two for Shabbos and one to freeze.
  • Anyone have a good idea re: how to heat these on Shabbos day?*
    • Queen Lieberfolk suggested pulling them from their sauce and putting them on the plata dry. The sauce can sit next to the plata. Will the sauce get warm enough? Will the meatballs dry out?
    • DH thought the crockpot may work. In my experience, ground beef in the crockpot over Shabbos is no bueno.
• Brown Rice
• Onion Kugel—Prepped and frozen.
• Caesar Salad—Quick & Kosher
• Cucumber salad
• Broccoli salad
  -----
• Mango soup over soy ice cream

I want to get back on track this week! Who wants to take away my hot glue gun?


* The laws of heating food on Shabbos are pretty complex. Long story short, one cannot cook on Shabbos. This means that heating up food in a way that may lead to cooking (or look like cooking) is a no-no. Typically, people use a warming tray (called a plata) or a blech, a piece of metal that sits over the burners on the stove, to warm food. There is an issue with putting liquid on either of these warming devices, so my question is about the meatball sauce.

Back to Basics

Last week, I said that I felt like my brain was a hard drive had been gunked up with peanut butter. For whatever reason, I just can't get into any sort of groove since we have been back. I won't bore you with all of my theories about why I can't seem to get my act together. Whatever the root cause of the peanut butter brain disorder, I have decided to take drastic action to get myself back on track: I am going to pare my "to do" list down to only the barest of essentials. If I can handle the minimum things (um… like cooking dinner for my family and making sure everyone has clean underwear), then I will add in "extra" things that I like to do (like working on the new site and my little bow making obsession). Of course, it goes without saying that having Shabbos ready early (and trying my darndest to blog about it in the process) is a minimum thing.

So that I REALLY go "back to basics", I am giving myself a goal toward Shabbos every day this week. I will NOT be cooking all day on Friday again. I will NOT be setting the table after I have lit candles. I WILL be enjoying my little people and playing sidewalk chalk or something equally fun on Friday afternoon. Here is how I am going to get there:

Back to Basics: Daily Goals Towards Shabbos

SUNDAY: I am happy to report that I did all of these things.

• Decide on guest list: No one. Hubby has five nights of twelve hour ER shifts this week. I have a feeling he will be sleeping before the fish.
• Inventory freezer for things that are already made: I have sweet potato mash, onion kugel, and chopped herring already made and in the freezer. I can pull at least one of those things out to make for Shabbos.
• Put away last week's dishes: I know this sounds basic, but last week, I was doing this on Thursday.

MONDAY:

• Inventory fridge and pantry for other "freezable" side items—and make at least one thing: Mango soup will be happening later tonight.
• Laundry—or maybe not? We will see how the night goes on this one.

TUESDAY:

• Leftover laundry
• Clean the bathrooms—l'cvod Shabbos—I will do a quick once over on Friday morning, but I will get the dirty work done tomorrow.

WEDNESDAY:

• Clean the floors--l'cvod Shabbos—will spot clean on Friday morning.
• Change Sheets-- l'cvod Shabbos
• Menu—and I will incorporate things that I already have prepared in the freezer. I will try to double up anything that I make on Thursday to freeze.

THURSDAY:

• Shop after school drop off
• Cook starting before school pick up.
• Finish cooking and have kitchen basically clean by 10 pm (this is a MAJOR stretch, by the way… 10 pm is my witching hour. It is the time I go from an efficient-let's-get-it-down-person to a stalling-let's-play-on-the-computer person… so we shall see).

FRIDAY:

• Set the table.
• Spot clean.
• Relax, do my nails, make a bow, read Dr. Suess, or do some other random non-stressful activity (read: NAP!!)

Everyone needs to hold me to these daily goals. I don't think I can make it through another Friday like last week. No. I am not going to write about it. It was that bad.

The “I need a reboot” Menu

I hate it when my computer gets the hiccups.  It never fails that I will be in the middle of doing something REALLY important (like watching Top Chef on iTunes) when everything starts to run like there is peanut butter in the hard drive.  Drives me batty.  My cure for the computer hiccups is invariably to hold down the power button until the whole thing turns off and then turn it back on.  I know that rebooting with a hard shutdown isn’t the best way to deal with the problem, but it always seems to do the job!  Well, this week, I need a hard shutdown followed by a reboot.

I am probably trying to put too much on my plate again and I am probably still recovering from a month away, but, those excuses aside, I seem to have a case of the life hiccups.  My internal hard drive is running like there is peanut butter stuck inside.  I can’t seem to get my act together to get my coupon deals arranged (I even went to the grocery store WITHOUT my coupon book and WITHOUT looking at ads earlier this week).  I keep intending to work on my new site, but get sidetracked on a million other things.  I start to reply to one of the 500 emails I got while I was gone and I get um… delayed (read: stuck on Facebook).  Don’t even ask if I have done anything towards Shabbos yet.  I need someone to come and press my power switch until I shut off and then reboot me.  

So, in honor of my inability to get my act together and start cooking earlier AND because it is officially summer in Houston, I give you the “I need a reboot” menu—mostly salads, easy, and refreshing.   I am actually making two meals this week (two DIFFERENT meals, that is) because I am craving this dinner and it doesn’t work well at lunch (chicken dries out).  I will be repurposing many of the components to make up for the extra work of a double menu.

** Recipe links are not posted yet.  Why?  MY BRAIN IS A PEANUT BUTTER FILLED HARD DRIVE.**

Dinner

·         Challah—Done

·         Hot & Sour Soup—Kosher by Design Short on Time

-----

·         Indonesian Chicken

·         Ginger Quinoa

·         Cucumber and cilantro salad

·         Corn Salad—Quick & Kosher

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·         Berries

Lunch

In honor of Yom Haatzmaut, this is a seriously Israeli menu.

·         Challah

·         Hummus

·         Egg Salad

·         Chopped Herring (yuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmm)

·         Guacamole

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·         Spring Marinated Chicken—Kosher by Design Entertains

·         Onion Kugel

·         Quinoa Salad with Zaatar Dressing

·         Israeli Salad

·         Corn Salad—Quick & Kosher

·         Red Cabbage Salad—Quick & Kosher

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·         Lieber-strawberry-shortcake-triffle (doesn’t have the same ring as Lieberkugel, but same idea… Queen Lieberfolk is going to bring dessert).

Tomorrow is shopping day!  Have I made my list?  Um.  No. 

Learned my Lesson

After spending most of last Thursday night in front of my computer, instead of in the kitchen, I resolved to get my cooking done BEFORE I did anything else this week. A tall order considering there are still parts of Purim costumes to make, mshaloch manos to put together and cards to create, birthday surprises to arrange, and a dining room table piled with at least a foot of junk to clean off. But I did it! I am done in the kitchen (mostly)! I need to bake my tri-colored gefilte fish once my corn kugel comes out, but everything else is done! My wonderful mother-in-law, Bubbe, even helped me do most of the dishes already!
This feels so much better than last week (at this point in the evening, I was thinking, "Well, it isn't THAT late yet. I will just go take a shower.").

What did I do differently? Instead of getting on my computer after the kids were in bed, I went straight to the kitchen and finished up the things I had been working on during naptime. I used that momentum to get everything else prepped and ready to go. I even found time to make another kugel—onion, this time, to utilize the AMAZING Texas sweet onions that seem to be on sale everywhere.

I learned my lesson. From now on, I will make like a Nike and JUST DO IT!

Learning from losing

For the first time since I started my little experiment, I did not have Shabbos ready by chatzos on Friday.  In fact, I barely had Shabbos ready by candle lighting.  Now, I have had bad erev Shabbos experiences (think: stuck on a tarmac in BEAUMONT, Texas because there are storms around Houston and the plane couldn’t land… with only 3 hours until Shabbos, a 40 minute drive to make once I got to Houston, and some food to prepare once I got past the drive).  I can’t say that last week was like THAT.  It was pretty hair-raising, though. 

I won’t go into all of the gory details (kvetchy baby, messy kitchen, buggy romaine, oh my!), suffice to say, the stars were not aligned in my house and much that could have gone wrong, went wrong.  It was really a shame--things started out so good last week!  I had a few things done early.  I wasn’t planning a large crowd for either meal.  I was really making only one meal (and not a lot of fancy food, either).  I should have easily had Shabbos done by chatzos on Friday. 

SO WHAT HAPPENED??  How did I derail when I was doing so well?  How can I keep myself from making the same mistakes again? 

After some reflection, here is some wisdom that I garnered from my first chatzos defeat:  

ü  A journey of one thousand miles begins when you TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER, already!  A major part of my downfall was my failure to turn away from my computer on Thursday night.  I did not have that much to do!  I needed to just stand up and DO IT.  It is Facebook’s fault.  

ü  If not now, when?  I am still not clear what I was thinking, but I went to bed on Thursday night before I cleaned my kitchen from my cooking sprint.  I have never done that before.  Not even on a regular week night.  I woke up on Friday (late, mind you) and my kitchen was in no shape to make breakfast, let alone get ready for Shabbos.  Getting that room back in shape took a good hour while DS was at school.

ü  If not me, who?  B”H, I have a husband that likes to help get ready for Shabbos.  He sees bathing the kids as relaxing time.  He enjoys setting timers and the hot water urn ready.  But if he has worked a 30 hour shift, he is probably not the best person to rely on to get major things done on Friday. 

ü  Do not do today what can be saved for tomorrow night.  In other words, only do those things that MUST be done before candle lighting.  Everything else can wait until motzei Shabbos.  For example, folding the shmattas that are in the dryer (and have been there for at least a day) is probably NOT an efficient use of time when there are still salads to make, floors to clean, kids to bathe, dishwashers to empty and reload, ect.  Not that I would ever waste my time on Friday afternoon doing something so silly.    

I am going to take my new wisdom and make it happen.  I mean, I have a whole extra hour this week, right?  In the words of Bob the Builder, “Can we make chatzos?”   YES, WE CAN!

Sorry.  Sick kid means lots of Bob. 

You win some, you lose some

I guess we can't make it every week.  I have about an hour and fifteen minutes until chatzos-- with about 3 hours worth of things to get done.  The good news is that I learned a lot of things from this failure (and I still have some time to learn some more).  I will share with you later today-- um-- no-- Sunday.  Sigh.  No writing until Shabbos is done! 

Good Shabbos, everyone!

It is Tuesday already?!

Where did the beginning of the week go?  In my house, the first two days of the week were eaten by the scary monster that appears about twice a week: the CALL MONSTER!  [insert scary music]. 

The CALL MONSTER [scary music] is a peculiar fellow.  He takes otherwise family-oriented spouses and hides them away at his liar (the hospital).  The CALL MONSTER [scary music and screeching] then tortures the otherwise family oriented spouse.  He forces the otherwise family oriented spouse to stay at his liar for 30 hours.  He challenges the otherwise family oriented spouse with difficult social situation among the spouse's patients.  He even limits the spouse's time available to eat.  And just when the spouse thinks that [s]he can get a little rest, the CALL MONSTER [blood curdling cry] pages that 5 new patients are coming.  When the CALL MONSTER [gasp] finally releases the otherwise family oriented spouse, the spouse is basically the walking dead.  The spouse trudges back home, drinks a glass of chocolate milk and falls into bed (scrubs still on). 

Days when the CALL MONSTER [more scary music] visits our house are difficult.  The kids, DS in particular, miss their dad and I miss my husband.  I won't bore you with the heart wrenching things that a 3 year-old can come up with, suffice to say, he knows that Daddy is not home and he is not thrilled with it.  True to toddler form, his loneliness for his father manifests in temper tantrums and other acting out.  Sundays are particularly difficult because (1) there is no school to distract him and (2) because Sunday is "family day", all of his friends are with their families and not available for playdates.  Needless to say, I have my hands full on those days. 

The day after CALL MONSTER can be just as challenging.  When DH gets home (right when school gets out), he needs rest.  Of course, DS wants to play with Daddy.  More tantrums.  More acting out.  And all of this while I am trying to keep the house quiet so that DH will be able to enjoy time with DS when he wakes up.  This week, the day after CALL MONSTER was ALSO a school holiday.  The fun kept coming. 

So, it is Tuesday.  DS is at school.  DH has clinic this afternoon (home at a normal time!).  And I am finally catching my breath.  But wait!  I need to think about Shabbos! 

I know that I need to bake challah this week (I used the last of my matza challah last week).  Given that and given that the CALL MONSTER is coming back to visit on Thursday, I think that simple is best this week.  I have a few ready to assemble, flat and frozen kugels.  I am going to try do freezer experiments today and tomorrow, as well (uncooked, but assembled deli roll and meatballs).  All of that, some gefilte fish and some salads, and I think we are good to go! 

I feel good!  I have a plan!  I have an hour before school is out!  CHALLAH TIME!

PS I am still looking for people that are making 5#s of challah (this week or another week) to help with a major mitzvah.  Please contact me in the comments and let me know if you are up to help.  You don't have to be in Houston.

Two Hours to Go and Some New Prespective

I have a little less than two hours to go until chatzos-- I am sure I am going to make it today.  There is really not so much left to do.  I even had time to make the kids' reading nook usable again!

But I was thinking (as I was going from room-to-room trying to reorder the house, feeling totally zonked because of my late night), am I missing the point?   Making Shabbos early is my gift to my family and a gift to myself-- When I get things done early, they get a calm, peaceful, nice Mommy erev Shabbos and I get to avoid the frantic-mad-dash-is-it-all-going-to-get-done-why-isn't-my-husband-home-yet?-I-am-going-to-collapse pre-Shabbos mood.  My question: does any of this REALLY happen when I just push everything to Thursday night?  Am I just making Thursday what Friday was? 

True, this week I started earlier (major help!) and I am really looking at freezing as a viable option for the future, but I was still up until almost 1.  Tired Mommy is not happy Mommy.

As if they read my mind, the ladies at the Chatzos Google Group started having the same conversation!  I can't wait to read what they have to say about moving the tension of erev Shabbos (rather than re-moving the tension of erev Shabbos)!

Off to finish up!

Being Grateful for Small Miracles

DH wasn't supposed to be home with us this Shabbos.  While he has been able to somehow manipulate the schedule (with trades, bribes, working extra shifts, working every Sunday) to have off every Shabbos over the last year and a half, we were sure that it wasn't going to work out this month.  He is currently rotating through the intensive care unit at one of the busiest children's hospitals in the country-- the nature of the work and the set-up of the resident teams made his "Shabbos switches" look impossible.  We sat down together about 6 weeks ago to review the schedule-- he would have to have one call on Friday (30 hour shift 6 am Friday to noon Saturday), one call on Saturday (30 hour shift 6 am Saturday to noon on Sunday), and one normal Saturday workday (6 am on Saturday to 12:30ish).  It didn't look like there was any way around it.*

We were preparing for the worst.  I would find meals with neighbors (and would probably cry... a lot) for the days that he was on call.  Miraculously, a few things came up weeks before he started in the PICU, and other residents needed to make switches to the schedule, "Would you be willing to take my Thursday call for your Friday?"  It shouldn't have worked out, but it did.  We were grateful that he wouldn't have to stay at the hospital overnight on Shabbos and we wouldn't be without our favorite Daddy. 

We had resigned that the regular work day was just not going to happen. Truly, we felt blessed to have the call situation fixed.  We would somehow make the work day, well, work.  We decided that the best way to deal with the work day was to pack up the whole family and stay at the Chabad in the Medical Center.  He would walk to work and we would have the majority of the time together.  That was supposed to be this Shabbos. 

And then everything just came together!  I can't even begin to try to explain how many little pieces just "randomly fell into place", but he was somehow able to get off this Shabbos!  He has said, and I agree, it is all min ha-shamyim. 

Often, we take for granted the details of life.  "Of course my husband will be home for Shabbos!  How could it be any other way?"  Perhaps Hashem gives us these near misses to help us appreciate each and every chance that we get this time together?

Shaky Beginning Part II: I really DID set my kitchen on fire

When we left frazzled-never-made-chatzos-before-me, I was crying over challah that wouldn't rise and wondering if my family would notice if I served matza for Shabbos.  After I tossed all five pounds of challah dough, pouted about my first attempt to be early, and ate a lot of babka, I thought through what I was really doing with this whole chatzos thing.  Was it really worth it?

A very wise rebbitzen told me once that the yetzer hara works the hardest against the most precious mitzvos.  That is to say, sometimes we encounter more obstacles (internal and external) when we are doing something truly worthwhile (you know, "a good deed never goes unpunished" and all of that).  Why?  That is the yetzer hara's way of keeping us from doing great things. 

A concrete example: Bob REALLY wants to keep kosher.  He takes all of the steps-- stops mixing milk and meat, stops eating shellfish, bacon, even switches his kitchen over.  But Bob has a LOVE for Jumbo Jack combos* (with curly fries and a coke)** from Jack in the Box.  But Bob WANTS to keep kosher!  Bob decides that he can do this whole kosher thing, he only need to make every effort to avoid Jack in the Box.  The problem is, Jack in the Box starts showing up EVERYWHERE.  At work.  At friend's homes.  He can't escape the yummy smell of the perfect curly fries.  Bob is forced to make a choice: give in to the temptation ("it is just ONE french fry! What is inherently unkosher about a fried potato?") or stand up to the challenge (which seems insurmountable-- this is his all time favorite food!).  And that is how the yetzer hara wins-- only one little thing that, really, isn't THAT bad v. a MAJOR challenge. 

When I was sitting in front of my dead dough, I knew that this is how the yetzer hara wins.  I knew that, in order to make another batch of dough before Thursday night, I would have to make an extra stop at the grocery store (easier said than done with two small kids and a resident husband).  I knew it would be worth it and I resolved to get it done.  I would overcome the yetzer hara!  And then the "one small thing" popped up: it started to rain.  Not just any rain-- real HOUSTON rain.  Well, that was it.  I couldn't possible drag the baby out in the rain for an extra shopping trip when I would also have to go out the next day to get the rest of the Shabbos food.  That just wouldn't be fair to her.  No.  I would just make the challah early in the day on Thursday.  That would have to be good enough.

Perhaps getting it done early in the day would have been good enough, but I didn't.  I waited.  And waited.  I didn't even get to the grocery store until mid-afternoon.  I didn't start cooking until after the kids were in bed (challah included).  And I didn't go to bed until 3 am (and I didn't even finish cooking everything; the challahs DID look lovely, though).  So much for getting things done early. 

On Friday morning, I found myself in a typical position: two salads to make, a cake to bake, a kitchen to clean (BIG time-- dishes everywhere), and all of the other random house chores to get done.  Yetzer hara: 1, me: 0. 

The fire came about mid-morning.  I had a cake cooling on an oven mitt that was sitting on a burner.  Because I was exhausted and because it was yuck out, I decided that I needed a cup of tea.  I put the tea kettle on, turned on the burner, and sat down at my computer to try to get "some things done" (read: check Facebook).  I smelled something funny coming from the kitchen, but didn't think anything of it.  Maybe I got food on the burner when I was cooking?  But then, when my water wasn't whistling and the house was filled with smoke, I realized what I had done.

B"H, the only casualty was the oven mitt (a lot of scrubbing later, the bunt pan and stove top were as good as new).  Somewhere in the middle of scrubbing the ash and soot off of everything in my kitchen, I thought to myself, "You know, this wouldn't have happened if I had Shabbos ready by chatzos." 

Watch out, yetzer hara!  I am not going to let you get by me again!  

* No!  I am not speaking from experience!  Even pre-kosher, I never STOOPED to Jack in the Box!  I mean, ew.
** Okay.  You got me.  I am Bob.

Great Expectations

All of the Chatzos ladies over at the Google Group say that you have to start early to be ready for Shabbos by chatzos.  "Start your menu planning motzei Shabbos," they would say.  "Cook and freeze!" [side note-- post forthcoming about cooking and freezing].  "It is never too early to start!" 

Well, it is Tuesday night and I don't know if I am having guests, let alone what those guests will be eating.  The house is a disaster and there is the lingering smell of tonight's tuna patties in the air.  I know what the Chatzos ladies would say: "Start with something small!  Make a first step!  Make a kugel!  Shabbos is only 3 days from tonight!"  Not a lot of time anymore.

I DID expect to have some little thing done today.  Maybe a head count?  Or a general sense of a menu (in anticipation of tomorrow's ads to fill in the rest)? 

My inability to make any progress toward chatzos today got me wondering: do we have fair expectations of ourselves?  Was I realistic when my "to do" list today included finish the laundry, pay the bills, organize the hall closet, pull the too small clothes from the baby's drawers, have a play date for DS, make dinner, and learn with my chavruta before getting down to business on my Shabbos plans-- all on a day when DH is at the hospital for 30 hours?

I am plagued by the "expectation beast."  I would always like to see myself get done about twice as much as I realistically have time to do.  Often, my goals are so unrealistic that I know that I will not meet them, so I waste time doing other things ("I am not going to get ALL of that done.  What is 5 more minutes on Facebook?").  The solution, I think, is more realistic expectations.  I need to set goals that are easily attainable and then get more done than I planned.  My accomplishments will provide motivation to keep working and meeting and exceeding my goals for the next day.  The chatzos snowball, if you will. 

Tomorrow, I will attack the expectation beast and start with a small step-- the menu. 

Man Plans...

G-d laughs. 

I was prepared to write a fabulous post this evening about how I got all of my cooking complete during naps.  I was going to write how lovely it was to sit back and think about setting my table tonight.  But then life interrupted.

To give myself credit, I did get the sweet potatoes almost done (they are the most time intensive thing on my menu) while the toddle-bug was at school.  My plans post-pick up went something like this:

• School
• Store for meat (and some cheese for quesadillas for dinner.. and some whipped cream... the good kind! for a hot chocolate treat for said toddle-bug)
• Home
• Feed the little one, snack the toddle-bug
• Naps for everyone under 3
• Finish cooking for me (and if I had time, a blog post about how AMAZING I am)

Everything went according to plan until "Naps for everyone under 3."  I won't bore you with the details, suffice to say, I think that DS is weaning his afternoon nap (which is cool with me, but REALLY not cool with DD... who shares his room... and doesn't sleep when he is screaming about not wanting to nap).  No one slept.  DD didn't eat well (distracted by the incessant whining that comes with  no nap for her brother).  No cooking happened.   Every little thing turned into a battle with the almost three year-old.  To quote my husband, "You are never going to win a battle of wills with a toddler." 

And so, here I sit, 7:35 on Thursday.  Matza Challah was done last week, sweet potatoes are so close to being done, mushroom pate is in freezer-- just need to pull it out, nothing else started.  School closed because of snow tomorrow. I am going to be up awhile, but at least I have good whipped cream to drink in my coffee!  And I haven't set the kitchen on fire again (post coming soon)!  

Anyone want to bring me sushi to cheer me up??