It's day 9 of my 30 Days of Nothing--well, almost nothing. Okay, it's been 30 Days of Slightly-Less-Than-Usual. Here are my shortcomings thus far:
1. Ei finally decided to start pooping in the potty. We had promised he could pick what we had for dinner on the day of his first success. He was successful September 2, and he chose McDonald's. Hmmm... We couldn't go back on our promise, so we went. I packed myself a PB&J sandwich, not wanting to break my 30 Days on day 2. The kids didn't seem to notice my meal. They were too wrapped up in chicken sandwiches, apple slices, and Star Wars Happy Meal toys. But aren't we excited that he is making progress?! He is about 50-50 now in terms of successes and--ahem--accidents, and that's great news to me.
2. I made a "quick" trip into McKay's (the used bookstore where I could spend hundreds of dollars without batting an eye) the other day to pick up a couple of books for my exorbitantly long reading list this semester. Since I was child-free (which almost never happens) I decided to poke around a bit to see all the little nooks and crannies I miss when the boys are with me. I found the homeschooling section. I spent $25 on curriculum for my kids in addition to the books I bought for myself (which I do not count as a failure because those are required).
3. Saturday was Ei's birthday. We always go out to eat at the birthday boy's restaurant of choice, so I didn't feel right about telling him he couldn't share in this tradition. He chose Gondolier. I ate a Spinach and Feta calzone and shared the most decadent cake with my family for desert. It was so sinfully good. I should have packed a sandwich, but feta and chocolate are two of my weaknesses.
4. After Jackson's cello lesson we always get a milkshake or Icee or something fun, just the two of us. This is the only time I ever have with just Jackson, and I cherish our Tuesday afternoons. As we were leaving his lesson today he asked if we were going to get a treat. I caved. We bought a $2.50 smoothie. He was so happy.
As I write this I realize that after each goof I feel obligated to explain why I fell off the 30 Days plan. It all boils down to entitlement. I feel entitled to a calzone and cake to celebrate my child's birthday. I feel my child is entitled to a smoothie after he stretches his comfort zone at cello lessons. Mary wrote a great essay about entitlement HERE. And it's so true.
The weekend before I began this challenge, a lady I work with gave me a big box of cooking apples. She said that she couldn't use them all before they went bad and I should take them to prepare for my family. I decided that this was a good opportunity to practice being grateful and using what is given to me, so I set out to make the best use possible of the apples. I made Apple Brown Betty, Apple Crisp, Applesauce baby food, and Rosemary Apple Chicken. I used most of the apples before they finally started to go soft and I threw the rest out. I peeled so many apples that my fingernails turned red from the natural dye. This was kind of fun for the first 5 apples or so. Then I grew weary of the task. I started looking for shortcuts. Maybe I could just partially peel the apples. There are a lot of nutrients in the skin, right? Or I could only use the big apples so I wouldn't have to peel as many. You know what I need? I need one of those apple peeler-corer-slicer deals from The Pampered Chef. Oh, yeah. That would speed up this job. If I'm going to do with nothing, I want to do it with an expensive piece of cooking equipment that I will use only once in my life but feel good about owning because I am the pampered chef. Entitlement. It's a tricky beast.
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I have recently starting reading my wife's blog on here and enjoy it. She is a great storyteller and I look forward to new postings. However, I feel that I needed to hop on and let you all know that while she is extremely hard on herself (not sure where Jackson get that from)she is a wonderful person. So I thought I would list some reasons why her husband and children love her.
1) She is smart, beautiful, & caring.
2) She is the best mother/wife in the whole world.
3) She ALWAYS puts God and our children before anything else in our lives (unlike her sometimes selfish husband).
4) She can always answer the tough questions that Jackson comes up with.
5) While I lose my patients in 20 minutes alone with all three children, she can go on day after day and still keep her sanity.
6) She is much stronger then she lets on.
7) She is so good at doing voices while reading to the boys that on the rare ocasion she is not home for bed time (not because she is doing something fun for herself, but because she is at church) that the boys tell me that I am not reading the books right.
8) She can multitask like nothing you have ever seen in you life. Seriously!
9) She truly cares about the feelings of those around her and goes out of her way to make sure people are happy
10) She lives in a house with 4 males who try her patients (husband included) at every turn and she still wants another child (that would be another male - I only produce male children apparently)- DISCLAIMER - This is not an agreement for a 4th child and should not be taken as such. The writer of this posting cannot be held responsible for any wording that seems to be open to a 4th child and in no way agrees to a 4th child.
Katina/Kat/Momma, we love you and all that you do for us. You are the best!
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