Peter's Cross Station

How I Got My Kids to Eat Kale

2009-07-14T14:45:27-05:00

I was gonna call it, "How To Get Your Kids To Eat Kale" but thought better of it. Because kids--they're a mixed bunch. You just never know. Still, if you want your kids to eat kale and they don't eat it, you're welcome to try my technique.

Time was when Nat had leafy greens daily. Remember Green Supper? Ah the golden days of baby and toddlerhood! These days, I sneak frozen spinach into mac and cheese, spaghetti sauce, under the cheese on the pizza--otherwise they'd never get greens at all. (Selina might, but she suffers from second child syndrome and typically gets whatever Nat's getting, thus fewer greens than Nat got at her age.)

Anyway, I have some kale in one of my back porch window box planters. It's a variety called "perpetual spinach" because it's mild and can be used as a substitute for spinach,but is easier to grow and just keeps going all season.

I have cut it, cooked it, served it raw--none of these things got a thumbs up from the kids (they did from Cole and me, though). Instead, they'd chew it, spit it out, play with it, toss it on the floor and otherwise waste this awesome fresh green that should be in their little bodies fighting oxidants and making them super girls.

Until they were playing outside while I picked it. "I want a leaf!" declared Nat.

"What? This kale?" I asked.

"Yeah, the kale!" she said. I gave her a baby leaf. She gobbled it down. "I want anther one!" she begged.

By now, Selina was at my ankles, whining "Me too! Me too!" (her perpetual battle cry).
I stood there pulling them off one leaf at a time until my kale was cut back to the roots. They ate it with gusto. About every three days, I get enough mature leaves to repeat this and so far, they haven't caught on to the fact that this is the same thing they have rejected on a plate time and again.

Kale. The new Ice Cream Truck.

Give it try with yours and let me know how it goes!

Proud of My Girls

2009-06-25T10:05:39-05:00

Selina:

A couple of days ago, Selina mistook someone on the street for Babysitter J (her favorite person on the planet Earth). She called his name happily, but we told her it was someone else. The man turned around and looked at her with distinct annoyance on his face. "Say hi!" we cajoled Selina, because we felt awkward. But after a couple of times being told this, Selina looked the obviously disgruntled man in the eye and said, calmly, "I don't want to say hi."

Well good for her. She shouldn't have to make us feel less awkward about a perfectly harmless baby mistake or feel the need to be polite and conciliatory to strangers who aren't polite and conciliatory themselves. Anyway, that's my humble opinion. I think it's a very good thing to be polite and gracious, and we are certainly teaching our kids that. But you know, girls are asked far too much by our culture to smile and act nice for the benefit of others. And they shouldn't have to if they don't want to. I was proud of Selina for discerning that this strange, annoyed man was not someone she really wanted to engage. She wanted to engage her beloved J.

Nat:

Nat is a champ in her Spanish class. She really loves the teacher and I think the teacher is rather fond of her too. But they do this weird thing at the school. They use a plant mister--a little spray-bottle full of water, and they squirt the kids with it as a reward when they respond in an exercise or game. I can't even imagine how anyone came up with that idea. I see a water mister and think "cat punishment" right? But the other kids (not Nat) just laugh and giggle and seem to love it when the teacher squirts them with this water bottle.

So it was Nat's turn, and she dutifully did whatever the teacher was aiming for her to do and the teacher squirted her. I was peeking through the classroom window and I saw Nat flinch. I happen to know she hates to be sprayed with anything, because she complains whenever I spray water or conditioner on her hair when I'm braiding it. So the teacher made it around the circle and got back to Nat again. She asked Nat for a response again, and Nat hesitated, looked the teacher in the eye, and said calmly but clearly, "I don't want you to spray me with that water." The teacher told her that was fine and she promised not to spray Nat any more. Then Nat gave her the answer she wanted, and the teacher cheered her sin water sprayer.

I was just really impressed that Nat didn't cry or throw a tantrum or try to leave the circle, (or come looking for me) but neither did she submit to something she didn't like. She named her boundary politely and made sure it was going to be respected before she went on with the exercise.

Really, I think I was as proud of that as I was of her quick and ready responses to the instruction. Prouder even, maybe.

I wouldn't have done that at four. No way, no how. I would have rolled over with whatever awful thing the adult was doing or telling me to do. I was a meek little kid. Nat is not meek, but she is not rude, either. Go Nat!

Garden Growing

2009-06-23T22:38:43-05:00

These are my squash. It's difficult to see them, and yes, they are teensy, but there are four little squash on the vine so far. This was taken two days ago and the "big" one here in the middle is already twice this size and the next biggest one is this big.

My other squash died after being decimated by a sudden thunderstorm. Its main stem broke and that was all she wrote.

But I am somewhat surprised and definitely pleased by how well the remaining one is doing. Next year, I'll probably plant four of these.

This is the same plant, but I wanted you to see my nifty self-watering bottle. It's a terra cotta stake that goes into the container and then you fill a bottle of water and stick it down in there. These are mineral water bottles I painted to keep the light out so they wouldn't grow too much algae.

Here's one of my tomatoes. Except not really. Fine, I broke down and bought two plants. Both are doing well. They had blossoms when I bought them, which I pruned off. Soon they had more blossoms and now they have green tomatoes. I have about four on each plant now. My actual tomato seedlings are still only about an inch tall. What's up with that? I started them in early April! They are healthy, but only have four leaves each!

Remember the silly milk bottle in the middle of this planter? It's finally doing what I had planned and hiding under the wild flowers. Some are getting buds, including the teddy bear sunflowers I put all around the outer rim.

The lettuce produced beautifully for a month and we had many delicious salads. It's pretty much done now, so I planted carrots in that planter. I also put carrots in the pots where the cucumbers bit it and in the space which held the short-lived and under-producing broccoli raab.

This has nothing to do with gardening. It's Nat's picture of a guitar on her magnadoodle. She was very proud and keen that I take a picture and preserve it forever. I have to say, I am impressed. It's pretty good for a magnadoodle, don't you think? She drew it from life, copying her ukulele:

We Did!

2009-06-21T09:36:30-05:00

I know it's Father's Day today and many of you are celebrating that. We have many wonderful fathers (and faery godfathers!) in our lives and we wish them all the best. But for our two-mom family, today is special for another reason:

Six Years Ago Today

Twittering, Tweeting, Whatever

2009-06-19T13:54:17-05:00

As lilysea. Follow me. You know you want to.

Sigh.