Valentines Day has become

TadaShop — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:23:25 +0000

Valentines Day has become very much centered around my children, and teaching them to give to others. If your house is anything like mine, making Valentine's is a whirlwind of construction paper, glitter glue and a slew of crossed out names because that "b" was supposed to be a "d." Every year I say I am going to prep before we start, but will I really ever do this!? I loved this idea from Inchmark, one of the most inspiring blogs. I thought why not try it out. It was easy and the girls I feel like were more involved in the process than they ever have been...with an end result that they are so proud of.

See the inspiration and final product here:
http://tadashop.blogspot.com/2010/02/valentines-day.html

Thanks @unlikelymama! :-)

misscapatosta — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:19:36 +0000

Thanks @unlikelymama! :-) Its true, right?!

something nice to

misscapatosta — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 02:11:31 +0000

something nice to say....something nice to say...something nice to say:

ummm, she's cute?

loved this. thanks christine.

www.capatosta.wordpress.com

I'll give her this: she's not

christine — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:10:59 +0000

I'll give her this: she's not dull!

man, so many problems with

acm — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:08:45 +0000

man, so many problems with this.

(1) we don't even have a plan for *who's cooking,* let alone the ability to map out complete menus. it's 70% my husband and 10% me (mostly baby-oriented food for the latter), with the remainder being food that we have delivered from our delightful range of urban food sources or pick up already made at Whole Foods. this is not about budget, but about getting the job done. whoever has time, energy, or other resources can shop or make suggestions, and otherwise we'll work with the groceries (and menus) at hand...

(2) we have a toddler, and thus her range of possible foods is constantly changing -- sometimes she'll try new foods, sometimes she won't even eat the old standbys; sometimes she wants what we're eating, most of the time hah! maybe with older kids, where tastes and eating habits are more stable, such things become more possible...

(3) what about leftovers? either from a meal out, or from something you cooked (which was more or less filling than imagined)? this adds a lot of chaos to planning, and trying to avoid leftovers would eliminate some of our favorite odds-and-ends dinners.

those are just the first things that pop to mind, before you even get to illnesses, unexpected changes of plans (somebody has a business dinner, say), orother things that change family needs. but perhaps my response is colored by (a) having a certain degree of financial flexibility, and (b) having chosen to prioritize other things (time with family, mental health) over lots of planning here. I'm sort of anal on a lot of fronts, but dinner just isn't one of them, and the scrambles to make sure that we have enough bits to pack a lunch show how that can sometimes bite us too...

I had the worse experience

QueenK — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:08:22 +0000

I had the worse experience possible. It was a beautiful spring day and all the neighbor kids seemed to be playing in our back yard on the wooden play set with a slide.(You know the ones with the canvas tops and the big slides) One of the neighbors had 5 kids and they were there with thier youngest brother who was about 2. I was sitting on my deck watching them all play, and when I was speaking with another child, the two year old boy, apparently fell off the back of the deck where the slide was. Probably an 6-7 foot drop!!! I ran over, there were tears, obviously, but the older siblings shushed him and took him home. He had calmed down, so I ignorantly assumed he must be OK.

I didn't know these neighbors very well, and only found out a couple days later that the poor boy had in fact broken his arm from falling off our playset! I was mortified that the parents must have thought I was horrible for not taking him home or following up about his injury. I went over to thier home to apologize and they laughed it off. I guess after five kids, you are used to things happening. But I still feel horrible about it many years later.

Great post from you all, and

asifford — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:31:56 +0000

Great post from you all, and I am loving the nakey song...might try it out :)

I could not imagine planning

asifford — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:01:04 +0000

I could not imagine planning meals for a year, to me it is just not something that sounds appealing or worth it. I do try to only go to the grocery store every 2-3 weeks and plan loosely from that. I wouldn't call my family adventurous in the eating department.

I will definitely be looking into trying some of the great ideas you all have suggested.

join me sometime at my brand new blog

http://adventuresinbittyland.blogspot.com

Great idea. I have always

asifford — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:50:21 +0000

Great idea. I have always wanted to be a more organized meal planner but it hasn't happened yet. I think this sounds like a good thing to try.

::stands up clapping:: I like

QofTU — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:17:51 +0000

::stands up clapping::

I like her even less than you:

http://frogstoadsandallcreaturesthathop.blogspot.com/2008/10/darn-right-...

Thanks for the info on her latest escapades...I seriously hope people are paying attention.

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