Stick to Your Guns

For several nights when the boys are tucked in and lights out and Neil and I think all is well, out comes little Sam, "I'm hungry." The kid is always saying this. Anytime you look at him he says, "I'm hungry." Sure sometimes he is so I give him a snack but if I gave him a snack every time he said it he'd be as big as a house. At bedtime I know it's just a ploy to stay up a little later. If we didn't give him a snack he'd start crying and screaming and his screaming is so loud it wakes Mikey and we'll do almost anything not to hear it. At first we'd get him a snack and of course then Conner would get up and want something too and before we know it it'd be 9 o'clock and they'd still be up. This was going on all week and I was sick of it. Friday night I decided it was enough. Of course he didn't eat his dinner, which is another story and we kept telling him at dinner you better eat because you get no more snacks tonight. If you are hungry you are going to eat anything it will be soup. So come bedtime of course Sam gets up and is screaming for food. I told him he could have his soup from dinner and he just screamed louder so I put him in time out. I sat with him and talked to him about how he has to eat dinner or yes he will be hungry and so on. He was screaming uncontrollably that he was hungry. I was very calm but after 10 minutes I'd had it so I left and shut the door and held it shut which made him madder. He was not coming out until he had calmed down. I got tired of holding the door so I had Neil bring me one of his ties. I tied the two doors shut and sat outside. Neil did not approve and said if DFACS saw this they'd come and question me and I would tell them this is keeping me from hurting my child and they better be glad. I kept talking calmly to Sam through the door and he started yelling, Daddy Help Me! Please!" Okay now I couldn't keep from laughing. It was pretty pathetic. Neil was ready to cave because Sam said he would eat the soup but I had already given him that opportunity and if we gave in we'd have the same problem the next night. He said fine this is your fight. Sam just kept screaming. It probably went on for a half hour or more, felt like eternity. Finally I opened the door and went in and he started screaming louder for daddy. I sat down on the floor and told Sam I loved him and that it was time to go to bed and when he stopped screaming I'd put him to bed. He calmed down and snuggled right into my lap. I cuddled him for awhile and got up to put him to bed but then he wanted daddy and Neil wanted him but I told him to go away. I had to make sure Sam knew I loved him and there were no hard feelings. I didn't want to be the bad guy. So I put him to bed and sang him some songs and said some riddles and he was laughing by the end. Boy is that kid stubborn. I wonder where he gets it from. Anyway two nights since and not a problem. Ding, ding, ding I think I won that match!

As for dinner, I'm struggling. My kids used to eat everything and now they eat nothing but pizza, hotdogs, pb&j or cheese sandwiches, spaghetti, and a couple of other things. Conner is really bad. He'll just look at his dinner plate and say I don't like it without even trying it. Last week Neil requested chicken noodle soup since he's sick. I like to make my noodles from scratch. Unpacking a box I found a pasta maker I inherited from my Gma M and remembered how much my students used to love to make pasta so I knew my kids would too. You hear that if they help make it they'll eat it. I thought I had a stroke of genius and was so excited. The boys loved rolling it through and it was way easier than rolling it out. I kept telling them you boys are such great helpers and are making some yummy noodles. Aren't you so excited to eat them and they were until I served them in the soup. Neither would touch them. It is killing me. I guess it hurts my pride a little. I was almost in tears the other night. Do you know how much time I spend planning and preparing meals. I pride myself in serving my family new, exciting and delicious meals and they don't even touch it. I'm sorry but I can't eat spaghetti more than one night a month. Now pizza that's a different story. I'm going to start having pizza every week. I just bought all the ingredients from Costco in bulk, only costs $2.68 a pizza when I make it myself. That even beats Little Caesars and we get way more toppings and cheese. Anyway I've also always prided myself in not catering what I make to the kids. I make what Neil and I like. It's no fun cooking for kids but I know it's just a stage and in ten years they'll love my cooking but that's a long time off. The other night I was a little embarrassed to serve the family pigs in a blanket (little smokeys wrapped in bread dough) with mac and cheese and green beans. My kids don't eat mac and cheese that was for me and Neil. Velveeta shells and cheese hits the spot every now and then. Oh my goodness the boys were in heaven with the piggies but nowhere as excited as Neil. I don't know how many he ate but I made 56 and there were none left. Neil said this could be a birthday dinner--that means it's one of his favorites. Go figure. It was a completely processed meal except for the homemade roll dough. Very little thought or prep went into it and they gobbled it up. I guess I should be glad they like something so easy.