November 16, 2013

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It was a good week around here.  I’ve started to feel a surge of creativity again, which feels wonderful, and am anxious to get some projects completed around the house, for myself and to show you all.  I feel like it’s been so long since I’ve completed a proper DIY.  I’m playing with my camera again, the real one that is, and I’ve made some decisions to help me gain some more time and focus on other areas of my life that need some work.  For one, my husband is desperately overworked, and so I decided to step down from writing for Disney Baby beginning in December.  I was sad to go, but feel a great sense of relief to have a good chunk of time back again, because boy did it take a lot of time.  I hope to save some of that time for myself and the kids of course, because 1st grade and especially 3rd grade are no joke.  And baby boo continues to grow and blossom and I don’t want to continue in a frantic state, always trying to carve out space so I can finish up just one more post.  I also hope to dedicate even just a couple of hours a week to helping out my husband at his business, in any small way I can.  So that was my big decision I hinted at a couple of times on Facebook.  It’s always hard to walk away from income and the perceived opportunities that we all carry with paid writing gigs, but I’m certain it’s the right thing to do.

I will of course continue with my Gwyneth Made Me Do It column over at Babble, because I just love it so much, and wrote about kids and kid’s menus and picky eaters and taking responsibility as parents for such pickiness.

On Picky Eaters –

But the more time I spend on the path to a healthier way of eating for my family, and the more parents I speak to about having fellow “picky eaters,” the more I can’t help but think that I am responsible for some of my son’s food aversions. The other day as my son was having a “moment” and I was trying to get some dinner going, and help my daughter finish a school project, I absentmindedly offered him a “snack” to settle him down. Maybe because now I’m just more sensitive to the subject of food, but I finally realized that for years I had been using foods, and in particular “snack” foods he loved, to diffuse situations when my “difficult” kid was acting up. Crying in the store, here’s a snack to calm you down, fussing when I’m trying to do housework, sit in your high chair and have a snack, and on and on. And most of the time, the only snacks I knew would really settle him down were the type that come from a box or a bag.

Essentially, I had used snack foods of the processed kind to calm difficult behavior because it was just easier, plain and simple.  To read the rest of this article, please click here.

On Kid’s Menus at Restaurants, and what I wish servers didn’t do –

I butted in and replied, “No, fries are not okay.” I had to catch myself because I was on the verge of sounding like one of those crazy control-freak moms, I realize this. So I gently backed down and asked what other options they had.

Turns out they had a whole host of awesome sides that were not only healthier for my kids to eat, but a lot better suited for a pasta dinner. I mean, who in the hell eats fries with spaghetti anyhow? Amongst the choices were 2 types of salad – Caesar and mixed greens, applesauce, carrots and ranch dressing, sliced apples with yogurt dip, steamed veggies and grilled veggies. As far as kids menus go, we had struck the holy grail in terms of nutrition and assortment, right?

So why was the server suggesting fries at all, let alone fries with pasta?  To read the rest of this article, please click here.

Around the web I found and pinned some lovely things.

• I’m in love with these light floors, a good alternative to totally beautiful but totally impractical white washed floors that bloggers are going lady gaga for.
• 7 Cardinal Rules of Life – I love #4 and #7
• These Simple Sesame Noodles actually do look really simple to throw together.
• I am all over this look for the holidays – black and bronze glitz yeow!
• And I just ordered this amazing midi skirt – I hope it’s as stunning in real life as it is on the web.  Plan to wear with a form fitting cream or black sweater.
• I pulled together some Thanskgiving printables for FREE over at Disney Baby
• These photos of Hayden, and how he’s been naughty and nice the past week completely crack me up.  I love that kid.

Have a lovely weekend everyone.  See you back on Monday.