My Children Made me This Way

Organization. I get asked often, by people with not so many if any, Monsters of their very own how I do it. I usually answer I just do. There are no hard and fast rules. No grand and wondrous secrets to pass along. But tonight I as I was getting things settled for the night, last little…okay not so little one…tucked in I realized there is one rule that makes things easier when I do it, and harder when I forget. And thats being organized. That made me think of a great tip that a friend on a message board offered up to me after I had my youngest and the two oldest where in school.

Two little ones at home, 4 and 22 months old, and I was having a heck of a time getting the older two ready and fed before the bus came. Breakfast was insanity and we missed the bus a lot. And then we tried her trick. Sunday night we sat down and made a breakfast menu. This helped becuase they would get to pick and know what was coming. I usually didn’t do well with menu’s at the time..but it turned out to be a great tool.

And next? After the Monsters have brushed thier teeth, and gotten all their things together for the morning, we set the table for breakfast. It’s on less thing we have to do in the morning, especially with blerry eyed Monsters, and it also means that some things, like cereal or breakfast bars or fruit, anything non perishable, is right there for grabbing and munching while they wait for me or everyone else to get the rest on the table.

Simple as it is, thats one of the best tips I’ve ever gotten.

There are no Monsters here. There have been none all day. There will be none all night. I am not sure what great and wondrous thing I did to have such a thing happen, but my mother took all 4 of the little darlings for the night.

I can’t remeber the last time that my house was completely child free for a full 24 hours. I am not even sure I will know what to do with myself.  And my husband won’t be home for at least another four hours. The options are just multiplying here.

• I can make food that I like for dinner with out finicky Monsters to work around.
• I can do about a million things without interruptions.
• I can watch movies that are not animated, and have a rating higher than PG-13
• I can change the channel on the TV from Nick/Animal Planet/Cartoon Network/Disney and not fear for my life.

Have I mentioned I love my Mom?

I was cooking dinner last night thinking the entire time that the Monsters will probably turn up their collective noses at the the meal. A nice simple soup and a bit more complex grilled cheese sandwich. Something new and healthy as I am trying to change our eating habits a little, plus I just love cooking new things. So when S who doesn’t like anything not fast food, and the two littlest were on 3rd helpings of the soup and raving about the grilled cheese I was ecstatic and figured I needed to share these.

Mushroom and Leek Soup*

*this recipe is my own little variation on this one at Allrecipes .com

• 4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup sliced leeks (about 1 leek, with the greens)
• 1tbsp minced garlic
  
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry sherry
• 1 large container (48 oz) of Chicken broth
• 3 3/4 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  
• 1/2 cup uncooked pasta (I used thin egg noodles)

1. In a large pot (one big enough to make the soup in, yay one pot cooking) over medium high heat saute the mushrooms, leeks, and garlic in the butter or margarine and olive oil until tender. Add the sherry and continue to cook until you have reduced the liquid by about half.
2. Then add broth, water, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and add the pasta. Boil gently for 10 minutes, or until the pasta is tender.

Total cook time is about 1 hour with prep.

Four Cheese Grilled Cheese

• enough bread for however many sandwiches you plan to make 
• one slice each per sandwich of the following cheeses: Colby-Jack, Baby Swiss, Provolone. (You can use what ever you like really, but these are what I had and know the Monsters will eat.)

Garlic Parm Butter

• 1 stick of butter (brought to room temperature)
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp dried parsley (a bit less if fresh)
• 2 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese

 This is very very easy, but the butter has to be at room temperature. (You can put it in the microwave for a few seconds, but don’t melt it) All you have to do is mix the ingredients together. This will make enough that I can keep whats left it in the fridge for rolls or to use as a base to make garlic bread.

Once that is made you just put the sandwiches together, one slice of each type of cheese between two slices of bread. Butter each side of the sandwich, and cook in a frying pan over medium heat until toasted nicely on both sides, and the cheese is melted. I usually start these up about when I add the pasta to the soup. It takes about, 20 minutes total.

 And there you have it.

One of the things that I was most glad about when I graduated from first high school and then from college was the fact that I would never again have to do homework. At least not to the extent that I once had. The idea of after work hours spent in blissful relaxation, or even doing things that *gasp* I liked doing made me giddy. And then, of course, reality hit me with my first job.

I had to bring home work…making it homework. I ignored that connection that my brain made, and finished writting up charts or doing the billing or reminder cards to be taken back to work the next day. I resalved myself to this just being one of those things that needed doing, besides, I got paid for this.

And then I had the Monsters, D started school. D went to second grade. I had homework in my life once more. But now, now I was on the helping end. At first it was easy. None of them minds it at first. But somewhere about 4th grade 2 things happen. The work gets a little more complex and they get a little less enthusiastic. Unless you’re F, she has balked since the first page came home.

It is amazing how much math you can forget in a few years. Though I think they might have changed how they do things, at least thats the theory I am going with. The map of the world looks nothing at all like it did when I was in elementary school..or even high school for that matter. I am really missing that big purple splotch in the middle of Europe that used to read USSR. Thank goodness history hasn’t changed. Just been added to. And luckily some of what has been added I have lived through….

Oh God, now I hate homework and feel old.

The computer is a great thing and the internet is wonderful, wonderful place. I have found so many interesting and useful things online. As well as completely useless and highly entertaining. It really depends on the day. However there are two places that I though I would share as they seem to be places that I find myself at frequently. One is a great tool for grown-ups, and the other is pretty good place for kids. The best part? They are both free!

First is SparkPeople . If you have a New Years resolution to lose weight, get in shape, or something in between, this site really is amazing.There are all sorts of trackers, for nutrition, goals, weight, and fitness. There is also a meal plan that you can use. There are message boards, and tons of articles about all sorts of things. You also get your own page and blog as well as free workout videos. And there is a wide range of them suited to most people. And it really is free. No catches that I have found, and I have been there about a year.

The other place is Neopets . It’s for kids…well mostly. I have an account there as well, and there are actually a lot of adults there. HOWEVER there are safeguards in place for children under 13 to keep people from contacting them and I have never had a problem with the Monsters playing there. You get to create a pet to care for, a home and there are lots of games. When I first happened across the game 4 years ago it was completely free. There is now a paid portion, but ofr the most part it is still a free game. I think it’s a good place for the Monsters when they can’t go outside and they have run out of things to do inside.

So there you are… a couple more things that I find helpful.

Winter break is officially over and I have survived! I got up with the first little peep of the alarm. I woke up Monsters who immediately started with the same grumblies that they went to bed with. But I smiled, and I sing songed at them to rise and sparkle and then I half skipped to the kitchen to make breakfast.

Now I do remember what it was like to wake up that Morning when you go back to school off vacation. At least the teenaged portion of it. The half anticipation, half dread. You get to see your friends, but you have all that school work again. D (OMG she will be 13 this year) was angsty with it this morning with it. She fussed with her clothes and messed with her hair, vacillating between sighs and smiles.  By the time their Pappy came to pick them up she wasn’t in so much of a sulk.

S was his usual groggy upon waking.. He wolfed down his breakfast, wore part of it and had to change his shirt, and then finished off what F left on her plate. By the time he had some food in him he was animated and excited about getting back so he could get a new library book.  So much so he left his glasses at home, and I had to have my dad come back and get them and take them to school for me.

F and C…well, chocolate chip pancakes and the fact that they would be on the playground today was enough to have have them bouncing once they got a touch more awake. I even had the pair of them excited and in the kitchen as I cooked, singing silly made up songs about going back to school with me.  Much to the dismay of D.

And now…it is quiet. My house is mine. My Monday is mine. Christmas is now officially over.

Happy 2009!

The Monsters counted down the days to Christmas, and the vacation with bright eyes and gleeful giggles. A day marked off was cheered and the next most joyfully entered. They could not wait for the days to pass and it seemed to them it would be forever. I even posted about the passage of time for me and for them. The disproportion of it.

I find myself there once more. At that place where the speed of times passage for each of us differs. For me it is at a crawl and for them it is slipping away. Two more days (baring any unforseen weather event)  and they go back to school! They are counting with dread, and I am patting them and offering encouraging words. Words about missed friends and getting away from the house and one another. They give little shrugs and half smiles and that begrudgingly tell me I might be right.

It’s hard not to let the smile become a grin, I am trying not to hop around as I mark off the days. Sunday when we have pancakes I am gonna put in chocolate chips, make up a little whipped cream for them as well. Have to make the last day of Christmas vacation sweet after all.

We won’t tell them I am celebrating.