Our schedule got off today. I suppose we don’t have a schedule really, and in fact I try very hard to specifically not have a regimented schedule. I want my children to be able to be flexible and comfortable in differing situations all across their lives. I hope this will help them lead relaxed, happy lives in which they’re not bound by the ticking of the clock or need to have a specific food in a certain way on a particular night.
That being blathered on about enough, we do tend to do generally the same things around the same time, specifically eating and sleeping. We eat when we get up, although the time everyone gets up is somewhat flexible. We have dinner hopefully around noonish and dinner—which used to be at five o’clock due to imminent hunger strikes—can now go as late as six-forty-five. Snacks happen here and there and I try to make the balance of the snacks more healthy than junk.
But today was strange. It was their second day of camp in which they stayed in after-camp to three o’clock. I packed their lunches, including things they liked and added a snack for the snack time just before they came home. I got them at three and we went on one errand and had a drink there because energies were flagging. I got home at four-fifteen and wasn’t sure if it would be early or late dinner.
That’s when I started unpacking their lunch boxes and things changed. My son had eaten most of his lunch and snack, but my daughter had eaten hardly anything. As I unpacked, they came over and became interested in the food. I stuck it up at their seats and they started eating it. My son devoured her sandwich she hadn’t even touched at lunch. She ate the apples and they both got into the sweet peppers. It was four-forty-five and I wasn’t sure if this was dinner or snack.
We usually don’t feed them (or let them eat) too close to bed time, but this was early for dinner, especially when my daughter hadn’t eaten much lunch. After that there was some boisterous playing and then I decided to stick them in the tub well early of bedtime, promising them they could have, “naked pasta” after they got out.
They didn’t know what naked pasta was, so I explained they could eat pasta naked after their baths and I would get all the red sauce off them when they were done so they could put on their pajamas. And…if they were timely about it, they might get to watch a television show before bedtime.
“Naked Pasta Night” was a huge success. Four bowls of pasta were demolished. Two tiny ice-cream cones were eaten. Everyone was happy. I was amazed how many spots on their bodies they got sauce. Amazed.
The Big Boy Update: My son wanted to know what color energy was this morning. Then, he asked me what makes the wind blow. I tried to explain, putting the answers in terms he understood, referring to the World Wide Web for advice first.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: My daughter was enjoying Naked Pasta Night this evening when she suddenly said, “I have to go to the potty!” She jumped down from her chair and said, “oh, no I don’t.” I went over, checking the leather chair and the floor around her as I watched her move her white cloth on the seat, apparently cleaning something up. I said, “How much pee pee got on the floor?” She said, “three scoops.”
Fitness Update: I did some sort of combination of aerobic activity with a weights workout in the fitness room today. It is just too hot to run at ninety-seven sunny, humid degrees outside.
No comments:
Post a Comment