Stuff Ian* said a month ago that I wrote down so I wouldn't forget and them promptly forgot

Does this have silver raisins?

You know, snow comes from the sky. Roovers are near the sky. When it snows it lands on the roof.

I can't even really 'magine it's snowing! How can it be snowing again?

(and, in the context of cell phones ringing in people's pockets...): I want to hear the call of Ellen's butt.


*To me these all sound like Ian sayings, but since I didn't write that down I will never be sure.

Hearby Resolved: Eat More Take-Out?

Lately I have been obsessed with how people manage the evening routine. Without peeking into other people's windows (which I am not entirely above, but it is time-consuming if you want to do it right) I am not clear how people get their young kids fed, bathed and in bed at a decent hour without completely tearing their hair out. Or rather, how people do this and WORK.

Chris and I (usually Chris, but whatever) cook most nights. We grocery shop on the weekend, guided by a plan for at least 4 nights of meals. (How people just go into the store and get what looks appealing and then manage to turn that into dinner every night is another thing that confuses me. I mean, I can do a single meal that way, but how do you shop for a week that way?) Our prep is good, but we have never really amended our cooking style to meet the needs of life with small kids. Our dinners are mostly not 20 minute affairs. We brine chickens, knead pizza dough, (AND) chop endless vegetables. Delicious, but not entirely conducive to quick completion.

The babies need to eat by 5:30. There is just no way we can have our dinner on the table by then. We have taken steps to make dinner easier, mostly by making meals that last more than one night or that can be transformed (roasted chicken becomes burritos or arroz con pollo). But it still does not seem like enough to get us fed before we need to put the babies in bed and Ada in the bath.

I have been obsessing about this for a couple of weeks and I think the universe is listening in. While I was solo parenting last week I decided that making dinner was too much effort. While at the burrito hut with the kids I ran into two neighbors. They both said their families regularly get dinner there. Then I was talking to a neighbor who spontaneously asked me how we deal with dinner.

I know some people take Sundays to make meals for the whole week. I doubt that is going to work for us, at least in our current state. So what else? And as long as I am asking, how do people who work outside the home get home early enough to do dinner and bedtime routines? Some days I work at home, but on others I work an hour away from home.  The only thing that seems to really help is having Ada eat at a friend's house. However, this doesn't seem like a viable solution for more than one or two nights a week. 

So how do we make this easier? How do we get us all fed by 6:30?


(and don't forget to click over and tell me about your favorite animal for a chance to win a wooden growth chart!)

In Through the Out Door

While helping me unpack the maternity clothes my neighbor loaned me, Ada asked what the clothes were for.

Me: As the babies grow, my belly is getting bigger. These clothes will help me cover my belly so that I don't get cold. 

Ada: How will the babies get out?

Me, gesturing from my slightly bulgy belly downward between my legs: They will come out this way, but not until they are big and ready to come out. They'll sort of knock and let me know that they want to come out. Then something like a door (making a small circle with my hands) will open a little, then a little more, then more until they have room to come out. Then the door will close again. 

Starting to worry that my door metaphor might make Ada worry that the door could swing open at any time, I added: The door can only open when the babies are ready to come out. They won't just fall out. 

Ada: And how do they get back in?



I could not help thinking of those signs at concert venues: No In And Out.