Valentine's Day Pinwheels

Pinwheel from Oriental Trading

It's almost Valentine's day!  For me, that means helping my son get Valentines ready for his kindergarten class.  Of course, thanks to Pinterest, I was looking for something cute to do.   Fortunately for me, a few weeks ago I got the latest Oriental Trading Company catalog and saw these super cute pinwheels.  36 of them for $10.50?  Sign me up!  I had seen some really cute candy ideas; however, this year, Valentine's day falls after the start of Lent, so my son's teacher sent out a friendly reminder that a lot of kids give up candy for Lent.  (she's on top of it!)  Pinwheels seemed like the perfect alternative.  I dressed them up with a tag, and here is how I did it.

I bought this Martha Stewart punch around the page,  it is super cute.  I really wanted the dancing hearts one, but Michael's didn't have it so I had to let that dream go.
I got home, and started punching.  I have used paper punches before, but not a punch around the page one.  There is a learning curve, and the dimensions of your paper need to be perfect in order for all of the punches to line up correctly.  I did a 3.25" square, which worked out quite nicely, since after I did the corner punches I only had to punch one time on each side with the bigger punch.  Convenient, since I have to punch out 25 of these things and I would like to retain the use of my hands by the end of it.

The pinwheels are red and silver, and I really wanted the background paper to be red, yet somehow, despite my stacks of card stock, I don't have any true red card stock.  I have every other shade of red, but not red red.  Crazy.  I debated going back to Michael's, but quickly came to my senses and found a sparkly silver glitter paper that has been lingering in my stash for years.

I punched the 3.25" square of silver cardstock:

Look at the pretty little hearts left behind!  I am saving those for a future project.

Next, I cut out a 2.25" square of white card stock.  I inked the edges using a Martha Stewart petal ink pad.  I like the smaller ones for inking the edges of paper, you just lightly swipe it along the cut edges to add dimension.  Then I stamped it with a "Happy Valentine's Day" stamp that I also picked up at Michael's today for a dollar.  I had tried embossing it in silver ink, but it looked terrible. 

Next, I used some pop dots to stick the stamped square onto the silver punched square, tied it on to the pinwheel with some ribbon, and I was done!  Only 24 more to go!

Pinwheel from Oriental Trading

It's almost Valentine's day!  For me, that means helping my son get Valentines ready for his kindergarten class.  Of course, thanks to Pinterest, I was looking for something cute to do.   Fortunately for me, a few weeks ago I got the latest Oriental Trading Company catalog and saw these super cute pinwheels.  36 of them for $10.50?  Sign me up!  I had seen some really cute candy ideas; however, this year, Valentine's day falls after the start of Lent, so my son's teacher sent out a friendly reminder that a lot of kids give up candy for Lent.  (she's on top of it!)  Pinwheels seemed like the perfect alternative.  I dressed them up with a tag, and here is how I did it.

I bought this Martha Stewart punch around the page,  it is super cute.  I really wanted the dancing hearts one, but Michael's didn't have it so I had to let that dream go.
I got home, and started punching.  I have used paper punches before, but not a punch around the page one.  There is a learning curve, and the dimensions of your paper need to be perfect in order for all of the punches to line up correctly.  I did a 3.25" square, which worked out quite nicely, since after I did the corner punches I only had to punch one time on each side with the bigger punch.  Convenient, since I have to punch out 25 of these things and I would like to retain the use of my hands by the end of it.

The pinwheels are red and silver, and I really wanted the background paper to be red, yet somehow, despite my stacks of card stock, I don't have any true red card stock.  I have every other shade of red, but not red red.  Crazy.  I debated going back to Michael's, but quickly came to my senses and found a sparkly silver glitter paper that has been lingering in my stash for years.

I punched the 3.25" square of silver cardstock:

Look at the pretty little hearts left behind!  I am saving those for a future project.

Next, I cut out a 2.25" square of white card stock.  I inked the edges using a Martha Stewart petal ink pad.  I like the smaller ones for inking the edges of paper, you just lightly swipe it along the cut edges to add dimension.  Then I stamped it with a "Happy Valentine's Day" stamp that I also picked up at Michael's today for a dollar.  I had tried embossing it in silver ink, but it looked terrible. 

Next, I used some pop dots to stick the stamped square onto the silver punched square, tied it on to the pinwheel with some ribbon, and I was done!  Only 24 more to go!

An entire post on hangers.

Yes, you read that correctly.  I am going to write about hangers.  Let me tell you something, while the rest of my house may be a bit cluttered, my closet is always organized within an inch of its life.  I don't know why, I can't explain it, but that is just how I operate.  My biggest concern is that every hanger is exactly the same.  Having all of the same hangers makes the closet look so tidy.  There is nothing I despise more than a closet full of mismatched wire and plastic tube hangers.  It drives me crazy.  I also sort my clothes by color and subsequently sleeve length.  That way, it is much easier to find the exact piece you are looking for.

Let's start at the beginning.  About ten years ago I settled on my hanger design.  They were clear plastic, available everywhere, and the ones with clips for pants matched perfectly (I hang my pants with clips, I hate folded over ones because they take up too much space).  It takes  a while to transfer all of your clothes to new hangers, and it inevitably requires more hangers than you think.  Finally, every item of clothing was transferred, and I was pleased.  I have used these hangers ever since.

When I first got married, my husband, knowing my love of hangers, started buying wood hangers so we could transition.  Unfortunately, while wood hangers look pretty, they take up too much space and annoyed me, so I only used them on his side of the closet.  In the meantime, I would occasionally catch a presentation of Joy Mangano's Huggable Hangers on the Home Shopping Network.  I would watch, somewhat enthralled, but the task of changing everything over was daunting.  Also, I worried about creases in the shoulders, lint from the flocking, and the clips for pants that I would have to buy separately.

Here's where the change came:  A few months ago, my mom bought a generic version of huggable hangers.  She didn't like them, since it is harder to get the clothes on the hangers.  So she brought over some so that I could try.  I liked them!  I wanted all beige, (I think the beige makes the closet look lighter and larger), but she had black and I figured that would work for now, until I transitioned all of the clothes.  But here's the real turning point:  I have always had large closets.  Space was NEVER an issue, so that contributed to the fact that I wasn't really ready to make the transition, since it was unnecessary.  Fast forward a couple of months, and I was getting ready to temporarily move into my parent's casita.  With a small closet.  My husband knows me well, so he went and bought me more of the generic huggable hangers.  They went from "oh, maybe" to an absolute necessity.

The moral of the story is that if you are short on space in your closet, invest in huggable hangers!  They even have them at Target.  The good thing is that they maximize your space.  They hold on to the tiniest straps on your camisoles, and you can buy clips for your pants.  The downside is that yes, it is slightly more difficult to get your clothes on them, but it is only a difference of a couple of seconds.  My only major complaint is that on the generic ones, the hook is clean and simple, while on the authentic Joy Mangano ones, the side is imprinted with Made In China, which makes the hangers look sloppy and annoying (at least to an anal closet organizer).  Seriously?  You couldn't have put the engraving on the side that faces the closet wall?  This irritates me to no end.

Either way, I am happy to triple my closet space with something as simple as hangers.  The flocked hangers, whether generic or original, are a great buy.

Yes, you read that correctly.  I am going to write about hangers.  Let me tell you something, while the rest of my house may be a bit cluttered, my closet is always organized within an inch of its life.  I don't know why, I can't explain it, but that is just how I operate.  My biggest concern is that every hanger is exactly the same.  Having all of the same hangers makes the closet look so tidy.  There is nothing I despise more than a closet full of mismatched wire and plastic tube hangers.  It drives me crazy.  I also sort my clothes by color and subsequently sleeve length.  That way, it is much easier to find the exact piece you are looking for.

Let's start at the beginning.  About ten years ago I settled on my hanger design.  They were clear plastic, available everywhere, and the ones with clips for pants matched perfectly (I hang my pants with clips, I hate folded over ones because they take up too much space).  It takes  a while to transfer all of your clothes to new hangers, and it inevitably requires more hangers than you think.  Finally, every item of clothing was transferred, and I was pleased.  I have used these hangers ever since.

When I first got married, my husband, knowing my love of hangers, started buying wood hangers so we could transition.  Unfortunately, while wood hangers look pretty, they take up too much space and annoyed me, so I only used them on his side of the closet.  In the meantime, I would occasionally catch a presentation of Joy Mangano's Huggable Hangers on the Home Shopping Network.  I would watch, somewhat enthralled, but the task of changing everything over was daunting.  Also, I worried about creases in the shoulders, lint from the flocking, and the clips for pants that I would have to buy separately.

Here's where the change came:  A few months ago, my mom bought a generic version of huggable hangers.  She didn't like them, since it is harder to get the clothes on the hangers.  So she brought over some so that I could try.  I liked them!  I wanted all beige, (I think the beige makes the closet look lighter and larger), but she had black and I figured that would work for now, until I transitioned all of the clothes.  But here's the real turning point:  I have always had large closets.  Space was NEVER an issue, so that contributed to the fact that I wasn't really ready to make the transition, since it was unnecessary.  Fast forward a couple of months, and I was getting ready to temporarily move into my parent's casita.  With a small closet.  My husband knows me well, so he went and bought me more of the generic huggable hangers.  They went from "oh, maybe" to an absolute necessity.

The moral of the story is that if you are short on space in your closet, invest in huggable hangers!  They even have them at Target.  The good thing is that they maximize your space.  They hold on to the tiniest straps on your camisoles, and you can buy clips for your pants.  The downside is that yes, it is slightly more difficult to get your clothes on them, but it is only a difference of a couple of seconds.  My only major complaint is that on the generic ones, the hook is clean and simple, while on the authentic Joy Mangano ones, the side is imprinted with Made In China, which makes the hangers look sloppy and annoying (at least to an anal closet organizer).  Seriously?  You couldn't have put the engraving on the side that faces the closet wall?  This irritates me to no end.

Either way, I am happy to triple my closet space with something as simple as hangers.  The flocked hangers, whether generic or original, are a great buy.

"When Are You Going To Have Another One?"

A recent tweet from someone I follow on Twitter got me started on the subject of having more children. My son is 5, he will be 6 in a couple of weeks, so the subject of only children comes up frequently in my life. The woman who mentioned it has a baby who is maybe 6 months old - and people are already asking her when she will have another - ridiculous! But let's start from the beginning. When you are young and dating, people constantly ask you when you are getting married. Or worse, when you are not dating and are a constant bridesmaid, suffering through the barrage of questions "So, when are you getting married?" My response was usually. "Well, I don't have a crystal ball, but if you find out be sure to let me know." So, you get married. Before the bouquet has been thrown, it begins again - "So, when are you going to have kids?" It never ends. When you do have a child, and said child is in the nursery, it develops into "So when are you going to have another one?"



 This is unless you are super lucky and have a Mother In Law like mine who flat out told me that I am not a "Real Mom" unless I have more than one child. She probably doesn't even remember saying it, but I do. It stung like a knife to the heart. I am a real mom, a loving mom, and in my son's eyes I am his hero. It didn't stop with her, though. My husband wanted another child, because in his eyes that was how it was supposed to be. But I wasn't ready. We were living in a dump town in West Texas, I was busy enough with my son who at the time was 2, and I was not about to have another child "just because he needed a sibling". What good is a mom who is already at her wit's end with one in a terrible place trying to take care of a newborn? I would never EVER have a child just so my son could have someone to play with. Each child that comes into this earth deserves a mom who is present, doing her best, and is able to devote her time and energy. I'm fine with one. I like knowing that I will never change another diaper. At the same time, I know that if I ever decide to have another child (doubtful), it will be because I was ready, and I decided that I would love to welcome another child into the world. Not because somebody told me I needed to.

 A couple of years ago I read this article in Time, a magazine I don't normally read.  And in that article I found concrete validation.  You see, my son has no dilution of resources, a phrase I have come to use often. He has a mom who stays home, goes to private school, which is important in Las Vegas, as we have the worst schools in the nation, and my full attention. I'm not sure I could say that if I had several children. My favorite part of the article was this: "olit conducted a meta-analysis of 115 studies of only children from 1925 onward that considered developmental outcomes of adjustment, character, sociability, achievement and intelligence. The studies, mainly from the U.S., cut across class and race. Generally, those studies showed that singletons aren't measurably different from other kids — except that they, along with firstborns and people who have only one sibling, score higher in of intelligence and achievement."


One day at work, (yes, I have been both a stay at home mom and a working mom)
a co-worker was telling me how a friend was in town and that she could tell he was an only child because he was self centered, particular, and basically not so fun to be around.  "Everything has to be his way" she said.  The funny thing is that she was basically describing herself, yet despite my urge to say "So, you are an only child?" I refrained.  She was in the middle of planning a wedding, and my first thought was not anger, as she said those words to me, someone she knew had an only child, it was pity.  Pity for the fact that she may one day only have one child.  How sad is that to have a mother who thinks that only children are destined to live self centered, horrific lives?

I know better.  I know that my son is well adjusted and happy.  Here is the difference between women with one child and women and men who think that you have to have more to justify your child's existence.  I don't care how many children you have!!  It does not affect me.  So please don't concern yourself with how many children I have.  If you have the balls to say to a woman "when are you going to have more?", why don't you think before you speak.  The woman you say that to may have spent years trying to conceive the one precious child she has.  She may have lost her husband.  She may be just like me, a woman who had a stillborn daughter and is scared to death every time she is pregnant that it might end in a funeral.  When you say "every child needs a sibling" to a woman who may not be able to have more children, you might just be breaking her heart. 

A recent tweet from someone I follow on Twitter got me started on the subject of having more children. My son is 5, he will be 6 in a couple of weeks, so the subject of only children comes up frequently in my life. The woman who mentioned it has a baby who is maybe 6 months old - and people are already asking her when she will have another - ridiculous! But let's start from the beginning. When you are young and dating, people constantly ask you when you are getting married. Or worse, when you are not dating and are a constant bridesmaid, suffering through the barrage of questions "So, when are you getting married?" My response was usually. "Well, I don't have a crystal ball, but if you find out be sure to let me know." So, you get married. Before the bouquet has been thrown, it begins again - "So, when are you going to have kids?" It never ends. When you do have a child, and said child is in the nursery, it develops into "So when are you going to have another one?"



 This is unless you are super lucky and have a Mother In Law like mine who flat out told me that I am not a "Real Mom" unless I have more than one child. She probably doesn't even remember saying it, but I do. It stung like a knife to the heart. I am a real mom, a loving mom, and in my son's eyes I am his hero. It didn't stop with her, though. My husband wanted another child, because in his eyes that was how it was supposed to be. But I wasn't ready. We were living in a dump town in West Texas, I was busy enough with my son who at the time was 2, and I was not about to have another child "just because he needed a sibling". What good is a mom who is already at her wit's end with one in a terrible place trying to take care of a newborn? I would never EVER have a child just so my son could have someone to play with. Each child that comes into this earth deserves a mom who is present, doing her best, and is able to devote her time and energy. I'm fine with one. I like knowing that I will never change another diaper. At the same time, I know that if I ever decide to have another child (doubtful), it will be because I was ready, and I decided that I would love to welcome another child into the world. Not because somebody told me I needed to.

 A couple of years ago I read this article in Time, a magazine I don't normally read.  And in that article I found concrete validation.  You see, my son has no dilution of resources, a phrase I have come to use often. He has a mom who stays home, goes to private school, which is important in Las Vegas, as we have the worst schools in the nation, and my full attention. I'm not sure I could say that if I had several children. My favorite part of the article was this: "olit conducted a meta-analysis of 115 studies of only children from 1925 onward that considered developmental outcomes of adjustment, character, sociability, achievement and intelligence. The studies, mainly from the U.S., cut across class and race. Generally, those studies showed that singletons aren't measurably different from other kids — except that they, along with firstborns and people who have only one sibling, score higher in of intelligence and achievement."


One day at work, (yes, I have been both a stay at home mom and a working mom)
a co-worker was telling me how a friend was in town and that she could tell he was an only child because he was self centered, particular, and basically not so fun to be around.  "Everything has to be his way" she said.  The funny thing is that she was basically describing herself, yet despite my urge to say "So, you are an only child?" I refrained.  She was in the middle of planning a wedding, and my first thought was not anger, as she said those words to me, someone she knew had an only child, it was pity.  Pity for the fact that she may one day only have one child.  How sad is that to have a mother who thinks that only children are destined to live self centered, horrific lives?

I know better.  I know that my son is well adjusted and happy.  Here is the difference between women with one child and women and men who think that you have to have more to justify your child's existence.  I don't care how many children you have!!  It does not affect me.  So please don't concern yourself with how many children I have.  If you have the balls to say to a woman "when are you going to have more?", why don't you think before you speak.  The woman you say that to may have spent years trying to conceive the one precious child she has.  She may have lost her husband.  She may be just like me, a woman who had a stillborn daughter and is scared to death every time she is pregnant that it might end in a funeral.  When you say "every child needs a sibling" to a woman who may not be able to have more children, you might just be breaking her heart. 

Oh, Christmas Tree

It's that time of year, when we all take out, cut down, or buy our Christmas trees, decorate them, and post on Facebook for the world to see. Let me first say that I love the department store look - the white lights, burgundy ribbons, gold ornaments; all perfectly placed on a perfect tree that looks like it came out of a showroom. When I go over to a friends house and see a perfect tree like that I marvel at how together she is, how perfect it looks, and sometimes think "someday I will have a tree like that". You know those friends - their houses are perfectly staged with garland twinkling with little white lights, poinsettias on the stairs, every perfect icicle light outside hung at just the right angle. I love it. My love only goes so far; however, because I love my colored lights and handmade ornaments more. Every year I untangle my 1,000 lights, assemble my tree and fight with both until I am staring at a blaze of glory - a tree that has more lights than actual branches, in all of the pretty colors. THAT is Christmas to me. As a child, a big part of the magic of Christmas was unwrapping each and every ornament from old, worn out tissue paper, admiring it and having it bring back memories before hanging it on the tree. That is what I want for my son. Not a memory of a perfect tree full of ornaments with no sentimental value other than how much they cost or how the colors are coordinated with the ribbon. Perhaps the most hideous example of how I decorate the tree is a particular stuffed duck ornament my husband bought the year my son was born. Yes, I said a stuffed duck. It is yellow and crazy looking, and when pressed it quacks out "Joy To The World". I kid you not. This thing looks so ridiculous, but it has become such a tradition in our house that even family members ask about it. It would not be Christmas without that duck on the tree. You see, traditions are what matter at Christmas, not how well your home would fit into a magazine. Although next year I am going to get a second tree to decorate department store style. As I said, I do love the look of them, just not for the family tree.

This also brings me to my thoughts about the outside of the house. We haven't hung lights outside due to the fact that my husband works out of state and I am smart enough to know that getting on a ladder with lights is probably not in my best interest. This year, however, I was bound and determined, so I put out a plea to "borrow a husband" to hang lights. Luckily, a friend volunteered to do it and he is coming over this week. But what should I do - perfect white icicle lights or old fashioned colored bulb lights? I am going with the traditional ones, so I can see the blue, red, and green festive colors in all of their glory. I love the icicle lights, but it goes back to the same thing as the Christmas tree - when you are driving around looking at lights, can you imagine if every house had the same stinking clear lights? How boring would that be? There are enough perfect homes in my neighborhood with them, so I think I have the right to go the traditional route. That and I know of one particular 5 year old who doesn't notice the perfect icicle lights, but yells "slow down!!" when I drive by a house with the multicolored ones. And he is the reason I am putting them up. This way, he can have magical memories of a Christmas tree that is filled with construction paper ornaments, multicolored lights, and a house that is decorated not perfectly, but memorably.

It's that time of year, when we all take out, cut down, or buy our Christmas trees, decorate them, and post on Facebook for the world to see. Let me first say that I love the department store look - the white lights, burgundy ribbons, gold ornaments; all perfectly placed on a perfect tree that looks like it came out of a showroom. When I go over to a friends house and see a perfect tree like that I marvel at how together she is, how perfect it looks, and sometimes think "someday I will have a tree like that". You know those friends - their houses are perfectly staged with garland twinkling with little white lights, poinsettias on the stairs, every perfect icicle light outside hung at just the right angle. I love it. My love only goes so far; however, because I love my colored lights and handmade ornaments more. Every year I untangle my 1,000 lights, assemble my tree and fight with both until I am staring at a blaze of glory - a tree that has more lights than actual branches, in all of the pretty colors. THAT is Christmas to me. As a child, a big part of the magic of Christmas was unwrapping each and every ornament from old, worn out tissue paper, admiring it and having it bring back memories before hanging it on the tree. That is what I want for my son. Not a memory of a perfect tree full of ornaments with no sentimental value other than how much they cost or how the colors are coordinated with the ribbon. Perhaps the most hideous example of how I decorate the tree is a particular stuffed duck ornament my husband bought the year my son was born. Yes, I said a stuffed duck. It is yellow and crazy looking, and when pressed it quacks out "Joy To The World". I kid you not. This thing looks so ridiculous, but it has become such a tradition in our house that even family members ask about it. It would not be Christmas without that duck on the tree. You see, traditions are what matter at Christmas, not how well your home would fit into a magazine. Although next year I am going to get a second tree to decorate department store style. As I said, I do love the look of them, just not for the family tree.

This also brings me to my thoughts about the outside of the house. We haven't hung lights outside due to the fact that my husband works out of state and I am smart enough to know that getting on a ladder with lights is probably not in my best interest. This year, however, I was bound and determined, so I put out a plea to "borrow a husband" to hang lights. Luckily, a friend volunteered to do it and he is coming over this week. But what should I do - perfect white icicle lights or old fashioned colored bulb lights? I am going with the traditional ones, so I can see the blue, red, and green festive colors in all of their glory. I love the icicle lights, but it goes back to the same thing as the Christmas tree - when you are driving around looking at lights, can you imagine if every house had the same stinking clear lights? How boring would that be? There are enough perfect homes in my neighborhood with them, so I think I have the right to go the traditional route. That and I know of one particular 5 year old who doesn't notice the perfect icicle lights, but yells "slow down!!" when I drive by a house with the multicolored ones. And he is the reason I am putting them up. This way, he can have magical memories of a Christmas tree that is filled with construction paper ornaments, multicolored lights, and a house that is decorated not perfectly, but memorably.

Cranberries

I just love to use cranberries for decorating around the holidays. When poured into a clear glass vase or made into a wreath, they are just so festive and easy to work with. For the centerpiece of my Thanksgiving table, I filled tall cylinder vases with water, cranberries, and floating candles. I also used cranberries as a vase filler in a round glass vase, then filled it with fall flowers for a pretty arrangement. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the actual table, but here is an example of what the candles look like. I am planning on doing more of them for Christmas, perhaps with some holly leaves tucked in for good measure. The vases are available at Michael's in various heights, they are 4.99. The floating candles are available at Michael's as well.

I just love to use cranberries for decorating around the holidays. When poured into a clear glass vase or made into a wreath, they are just so festive and easy to work with. For the centerpiece of my Thanksgiving table, I filled tall cylinder vases with water, cranberries, and floating candles. I also used cranberries as a vase filler in a round glass vase, then filled it with fall flowers for a pretty arrangement. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of the actual table, but here is an example of what the candles look like. I am planning on doing more of them for Christmas, perhaps with some holly leaves tucked in for good measure. The vases are available at Michael's in various heights, they are 4.99. The floating candles are available at Michael's as well.

Welcome back! As you may have noticed, my blog has a new design. After many failed attempts at trying to design it myself, I succumbed to the fact that I am HTML illiterate. So rather than continuously bang my head on my keyboard, I decided to turn to a professional. Turns out, professionals are expensive. Or so I thought. I stumbled across a blog designer on Etsy who will re-do blogs for $40.00. Amazing! Her name is Fran, and she is quite skilled at dealing with people (like me) who are lacking in computer skills and indecisive. I cannot thank her enough, and I am thrilled with the new design. I cannot wait to start some new posts just so I can show off our pretty new design. Here is a link to her blog, I highly recommend her. http://www.freeborboletadesigns.com/

Welcome back! As you may have noticed, my blog has a new design. After many failed attempts at trying to design it myself, I succumbed to the fact that I am HTML illiterate. So rather than continuously bang my head on my keyboard, I decided to turn to a professional. Turns out, professionals are expensive. Or so I thought. I stumbled across a blog designer on Etsy who will re-do blogs for $40.00. Amazing! Her name is Fran, and she is quite skilled at dealing with people (like me) who are lacking in computer skills and indecisive. I cannot thank her enough, and I am thrilled with the new design. I cannot wait to start some new posts just so I can show off our pretty new design. Here is a link to her blog, I highly recommend her. http://www.freeborboletadesigns.com/

Mom Fail: Eating Habits

I did everything right when it came to food and my son was little. Turns out, it didn't really matter. I made him a wide variety of foods, he ate what we ate, including chicken, spinach, fish, all of it. When he was small he ate whatever I cooked, and I was so proud of myself. I used to watch the Pediasure commercials with the picky kids and think to myself in a snarky tone "OR, you could just feed your child a balanced, healthy diet".
Then it happened. Somewhere between the ages of 3 and 4, my son decided that he would prefer to exist on pasta with Parmesan cheese alone. I would have to hide the parm in the back of the fridge or he would take the whole block and eat it. Suddenly, I went from having a child with a sophisticated palate to one who only wanted pasta. I'm not sure how or why it happened, but there was that feeling in my gut that said "FAIL".
When I took him to the doctor for his five year check, he had not gained a single pound in a year. "Pediasure" my doctor said, and the reality that I really had failed kicked in. The worst part about this is that I don't know what to do. The Pediasure is working, he gained 3 pounds in under a month, but that cannot be the long term solution. I try new recipes, but he seems to misunderstand the difference between not liking something and not feeling like it. As soon as I find something he loves, he will eat it for a day, then decide he hates it. I don't believe in the "clean plate club"; however, at some point I think I need to buckle down, cook dinner, and if he doesn't like it too bad. I don't want to starve my child, but I think he needs to learn that he has to eat something other than pasta. He tells me "We always need to try new things, and maybe we will like the way they taste" yet seems to forget that as soon as I set dinner down in front of him. When he starts school next year, heaven only knows what I will put in his lunchbox, a topic I am trying to prepare him for, only to be met with "Plain pasta". I can't help but feel like a failure in one of the most basic areas of parenting, that being feed your child. Any advice?

I did everything right when it came to food and my son was little. Turns out, it didn't really matter. I made him a wide variety of foods, he ate what we ate, including chicken, spinach, fish, all of it. When he was small he ate whatever I cooked, and I was so proud of myself. I used to watch the Pediasure commercials with the picky kids and think to myself in a snarky tone "OR, you could just feed your child a balanced, healthy diet".
Then it happened. Somewhere between the ages of 3 and 4, my son decided that he would prefer to exist on pasta with Parmesan cheese alone. I would have to hide the parm in the back of the fridge or he would take the whole block and eat it. Suddenly, I went from having a child with a sophisticated palate to one who only wanted pasta. I'm not sure how or why it happened, but there was that feeling in my gut that said "FAIL".
When I took him to the doctor for his five year check, he had not gained a single pound in a year. "Pediasure" my doctor said, and the reality that I really had failed kicked in. The worst part about this is that I don't know what to do. The Pediasure is working, he gained 3 pounds in under a month, but that cannot be the long term solution. I try new recipes, but he seems to misunderstand the difference between not liking something and not feeling like it. As soon as I find something he loves, he will eat it for a day, then decide he hates it. I don't believe in the "clean plate club"; however, at some point I think I need to buckle down, cook dinner, and if he doesn't like it too bad. I don't want to starve my child, but I think he needs to learn that he has to eat something other than pasta. He tells me "We always need to try new things, and maybe we will like the way they taste" yet seems to forget that as soon as I set dinner down in front of him. When he starts school next year, heaven only knows what I will put in his lunchbox, a topic I am trying to prepare him for, only to be met with "Plain pasta". I can't help but feel like a failure in one of the most basic areas of parenting, that being feed your child. Any advice?