Last night, this is how the 5pm hour played out:
I am in the kitchen trying to finish putting together dinner.
Mia is crying on the kitchen floor.
Chase is "helping" make dinner, aka in my way and making a mess.
The kids pull out all the toys in the family room and pull all the cushions off the couch.
We finally pull together the meal and sit down to eat (minus Matt who is rarely home in time to eat when my kids are dying of starvation).
Mia spits her food out.
Chase spills all over the floor.
Chase decides he doesn't like the food.
Mia screams to let her out of her high chair.
I try to enjoy the food that I slaved over.
I give up and turn the kids loose.
Matt comes home to a kitchen full of dirty dishes and a crazed wife.
I beg Matt to bathe the kids while I have a few minutes of peace and start cleaning up the kitchen.
I force feed Chase the rest of his dinner and scrounge for something that Mia will eat.
By the way, this scenario is a common one on nights I try to make a good dinner.
So tonight I said I was not doing that again. Here is how the 5pm hour went:
I turned on the oven.
I pulled a pizza from the freezer and put in oven (and before you judge me too harshly, it was organic and contained spinach, so I felt very good about it).
I played with 2 happy kids while we waited for our pizza to cook.
10 minutes later I pulled the pizza out of the oven and washed some grapes.
Dinner is served.
Kids eat all of their food without any bribery or death threats.
Matt comes home to happy wife who is cleaning the one dirty dish used to make said meal.
Family goes upstairs and spends quality family time together until bedtime.
So you tell me, is there a happy medium? Or can someone recommend me some more good freezer meals?
9 comments:
Wanna know what I do to survive? I started a cooking group with three other friends. One cooks monday, I cook tuesday, One cooks wed, and one cooks thursday.
We each cook enough food for four families, and deliver between 5-6.
I only have to worry about food on Tuesdays and weekends, and I have a hot meal dropped off at my door Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
It is amazing. I can handle one night of being in the kitchen. :)
Try it! You won't ever go back. We have been doing it for 2 years.
Plus it saves money... all around amazing. (if you have friends that can cook to do it with.) :)
i am judging you not for the frozen pizza but for the fact that it is organic. what are you becoming??
I cooked 3 nights in a row this week and probably enjoyed last night's dinner of mac n cheese more than any of them - because of the stress factor. We might just have pizza tonight!
i think pizza for dinner is just fine! and i don't even feel bad if it's normal old non-organic without spinach. at our house, the kids eat a lot of chicken nuggets. i figure it has protein and i can serve it with some fruit and veggies to round it out.
i've heard of cooking groups and it sounds awesome but i think we are too particular to put our meals in our friends' hands. i'd love to know if you try that though.
i love that cooking group idea. that sounds awesome. and i'm with leigh, who cares what kind of pizza you're serving as long as it tastes good because seriously, some frozen pizzas are nasty. and you know what i do when drew doesn't eat dinner (aka tonight): he doesn't eat. no force feeding here.
I love crock pot meals for that same reason. I don't have to stress about cooking dinner, watching kids, keeping kids from killing each other, and washing all the dishes after dinner.
Then, when Dan gets home (because he is never home when we eat either) his food is still warm in the crockpot for him!
If you find any good freezer meals, let me know! :)
another point that as moms we put unnecessary pressure on ourselves! when are we going to learn!!!
ps laura you're fabulous fyi!
I just love your posts--you are real. I sure love the way you describe everything. Looking forward to seeing you.
There is absolutely no shame in using freezer dinners now and then. Just wait until they are coming home from school, and you have to get through homework, and feed them dinner before kids have to be at soccer practice at six and then get home bathe kids and get them in bed by eight. YOu are running the show like a champ, Laura.
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