Mama Mama Quite Contrary

Because I have three small children, I try to serve meals that have a lot of color and are appealing to both kids and adults. I admit that I am lucky because Vivi is a great eater and the babies are also pretty enthusiastic about food so I haven't had to travel the limited culinary road of noodles and butter. Our general house rule is that you don't have to like it but you do have to try it. Oh, and if you have room in your belly for dessert, then you certainly can finish what is on your plate. That being said, here is a sample menu for a week at our house. In the winter, I tend to make more soups and one pot comfort meals. In the summer, I make a lot of salads and sandwiches. There are examples of both in this menu. Sunday: Fish, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans (We have fish about twice a month and I usually broil it with some olive oil, lemon, and herbs. I make a huge amount of mashed potatoes so I'll have lots of leftovers, and then saute green beans with almond s...

Since I seem to post a fair amount about our family's adventures with food, a few of you have been asking just what exactly we do. As many of you know, we are pretty particular about what we eat and I try to steer clear of making separate meals for my kids. Here are some general guidelines we follow: -Avoid canned food and heavily packaged items (like yogurt cups and pre-packaged snacks) -Try to buy locally produced food and grow some of our own -Avoid processed food -No high fructose corn syrup or items with ingredients I can't pronounce -Purchase as much organic produce as we can afford -Put the time and effort into making a decent meal for my family -Stay away from genetically modified food This isn't really as hard as it looks. It just takes some organization and planning. Admittedly, there are days when I am just too tired but I don't beat myself up over ordering a pizza. Here is how I generally pull it off: On Friday night or Saturday morning, I make a menu ...

The birds are singing. The trees and flowers are blossoming. The sun is shining and I'm coming out. Well, not in that way... but I feel like a spectacular change is upon me. A change that feels so good. The change: I am really enjoying my children. I know. Sometimes I don't believe it either. That is all but, in many ways, it is everything. While I had a lot of mixed feelings about the Turtles turning one, we are no longer in survival mode and that feels like a reason to celebrate. I see my girls, all three of them, interacting in ways I never could have imagined when I was so desperately sleep-deprived and trying to keep my sanity. They giggle with one another. They comfort one another. They talk and sing and explore together. They all gather in our bed and snuggle. And now, above all else, they sleep. When I envisioned having my own family, these are the moments I pictured. There weren't any deafening cries from colic and constipation. There were no tears...

Lately I've been thinking about what it means to be a success. When I was a career woman, I could point to publications and results from our legislative advocacy. It was thrilling to see my name in print or to know that the work I did led to a better life for someone who had been tortured. All in all, it was a tangible offering for my resume and made me a rather marketable gal in the world of human rights. Ahh, that was SO three years ago. I think I measure success a little differently today. My kids and husband are healthy and my house is in one piece. Sometimes, that feels more like a miracle than testimony to all the work I put in but I'll still take it. Here's a highlight of a few other successful moments: A backyard picnic which resulted in next to no clean-up! Preventing a child from being run-over by a rouge Turtle on a Cheeky Chick. Three happy girls in the tub. (This is one of those miracles.) And, of course, my biggest success is happy kids who can make t...

After a pretty awful night of babies getting up every hour, I was certain today would be better.  The Turtles are still miserable with a nasty, nasty cold but I knew that they would probably get some good naps in today.  Except that they haven't really.  Of course, the little sleep that has come has not come at the same time for both Turtles. Then, alas, the rain stopped and the sun finally came out.  So we went outside for a walk.  It was cold.  My thermometer misled me and damn it, if we didn't all get a chill.  I've been wrapped up in a scarf ever since. It's not even 2:00 and I've already hit the low-point of the day.  Since Vivi had an accident and was smelling of eau de pee pee and I was still sporting the post-vomit stink that befell me when Jude puked down my shirt in the middle of the night, I decided to let her shower with me.  I'm nothing if not efficient.  Unfortunately, that was when it h...

I'm not joking when I say that one of Vivi's earliest words was privacy.  Or, as she said it,  pri-a-see .  I first discovered that she knew the word when she kept repeating it while pulling on the sun shade of her stroller.  When I got the message and finally pulled it down she quickly relaxed into sleep.  Thus began her frequent demands for  pri-a-see, both in the stroller and while on the potty.   So it is no surprise, as she nears the age of four, that having her privacy is still of utmost importance.  Her bedroom is now officially a "turtle-free zone" and it is not uncommon to find that she has locked the door while she is in the bathroom.  I'm fine with this.  There's nothing in our tiny bathroom that could hurt her and I can absolutely identify with wanting a quiet place free of interruption, even if it is just for a couple of minutes. Lately though, her privacy demands are mostly because she d...

I live in a small community in a small city in a really small state.  I grew up in Vermont and while I could appreciate the beauty of the place, I often felt stifled by its provinciality.  As a result, I decided to go to college 600 miles from home and travel the world upon graduation.  When I returned to the United States a year and a half later, I moved to Boston.  The big city suited me and I was downright miserable when marriage called me to Providence.  At the time, it made sense for me to make the move instead of my husband but I still resented that ALL my friends lived someplace else.  It was hard going from having a really active social life to having my husband be my only available friend.    Motherhood changed all that.  Not only was Vivi a joy to be around but her very existance led to a blossoming social life for me.  I met other mothers at libraries and parks, breastfeeding suppo...