Day 115: Getting the Hang of It

Despite the fact that we now get home from work/school later than I/we ever have (it has crept up from 5:15 to 5:45 to now, more like 6:00 and 6:15), we've managed to get into a little groove that seems to be working. A lot of the reason for that is menu planning and staying on top of the prep. But it's not just the menu-planning. It's the consistency of doing the menu plan, getting comfortable with it, allowing for flexibility within the week (in case we get home really late one night, or I forget to thaw something), and learning the kinds of things NOT to plan during the week. Since I started this blog and started being more consistent with planning, the stress of "What's for Dinner" has diminished greatly. Dinnertime has also gotten easier. We've established our expectations and we're sticking firm with consequences. If the boys can't stay in their seats, they have to go to their rooms. It's fine if they don't want to eat, but they have to sit while the rest of us eat. And if they don't want to eat, no problem. But no dessert. (I'm still struggling with this one and plan to talk to the pediatrician at our next appt.) They seem to accept that pretty well. Some nights they eat, some nights they don't. I do offer substitutes sometimes when they don't like something I've made, but mostly, we all eat the same things now. At any rate, what we're doing seems to be working. So for that, I'm thankful!

This picture was actually taken Wednesday night, after dinner. William wanted to play downstairs, so I told the boys they could choose between playing downstairs for 20 minutes, or taking a bath. They chose to play downstairs. They happily played together for 20 minutes and then headed upstairs without protest when it was time to get ready for bed. Routines are definitely important, but I'm so glad we're at a point where we can "shake things up" every once in a while.

Dinner:
Spaghetti and garlic bread
I combined the last bit of jar sauce I had in the fridge with some newly opened jar sauce and some sauce I had frozen from a few weeks ago. (I sauteed onions and garlic in a little oil and then added the sauces, for a more homemade flavor.) I used a hoagie roll from the freezer (which has been there a while) for the garlic bread. Seth ate his spaghetti with sauce, along with garlic bread. William wanted his spaghetti plain (no sauce) with butter and Parmesan cheese. William ate all the pasta on his plate, but it wasn't very much. He also ate some grapes, but no garlic bread. Seth didn't eat very much pasta either. They asked for ice cream sandwiches, but I said no, not tonight. Neither one argued. We ate around 7:00.