Don't Pee on the Bee

It Can All Be Fixed In 5 Hours?

As I finished reading the November 2010 issue ot Parents magazine a few days ago, I started talking to J.R. about an article that I had read.  It was about "post-baby" relationships (if you get my drift!) and how to get your mojo back.  First of all, apparently no one will ever tire about the subject, but I can tell you, I am way over it!  I think it comes from too much reading (Gasp!) of parenting magazines.  Sometimes I feel like they are all the same magazine with a different cover!

Anyway, (as usual) the article talked about spending more quality time with your partner.  The suggestion given here was 5 hours per week. "It sounds like a lot, but half of that is one date night," explains the doctor.  (Date night? I think as I'm reading.)  The doctor then goes on to break down the other two and a half hours into smaller, daily chunks:  2 minutes in the morning, nicely checking in (in other words, no bitching about the bills or something that person did wrong!); 20 minutes at the end of the day, talking about how things went; and then 5 minutes of physical touching (on your mark, get set, go!); and also 5 minutes each day telling your partner how grateful you are for them.  Oh yeah--and if the kids are awake or the TV is on, the time doesn't count!

After a lively discussion between the two of us, J.R. looked at me and dryly said, "Obviously, this wasn't written for someone who gets up a 3 in the morning and goes to bed by 7:30."  Finally.  Someone who can relate to my situation!  But we didstart keeping track of our minutes together.  From Sunday night to last night, we were up to a whopping 91 minutes!  Thank God for true love and having waited a really long time to get married.  Something's working for us.

Statistics

I'm not too sure how I feel about this brief tidbit from the August 2010 issue of Parents magazine--

Because 21 percent of kids in the U.S. meet the criteria for a psychological disorder, the AAP now recommends that pediatricians regularly ask about their patients' emotional well-being.

Well, now that I've re-read it and realize that is says patients' instead of parents', I do know how I feel about this.  Good idea--although statistics frequently make me dubious.  I took quite a few statistics classes in college and grad school--classes that I did not like!--and what I essentially learned is that statistics can "prove" whatever you want them to prove!  So statistics and dubiousness aside, what really should be striking me--and you!--as interesting is that I actually read this more than a few times, and every single time I read it, I thought that it said that pediatricians should ask about the parents'  emotional well-being.  That speaks volumes to me about how my emotional well-being was this summer!  And my ability to comprehend what I was reading!

Wrapping Up Food Week on DPOTB

Well, it really didn't turn out to be Food Week completely, although I guess one could argue that the pig post might actually count as a food post!  (Ick!)  I did come across a new recipe that we tried last night, Chicken Caprese, and it was delicious!  You could definitely cook the chicken in a lower fat way, but I cooked it according to the recipe just because we don't usually eat like that, and I just really wanted to try it!  We don't have any tomatoes in our garden yet--well, red ones, anyway--but we did use fresh basil that the kids picked!  A super easy and super good summer dinner!  Let me know if you try it!  By the way, the recipe came from the Parents magazine website.  (Photo from their website)

Two Tablespoons of What?

It's that time of year where salads are making a comeback in our house!  (Although last week I did bust out a nice stew!  Rain and hail will do that to me.)  I came across this tip (May 2010 Parents) from Elisa Zied, R.D., author of Nutrition at Your Fingertips, about what should be in your salad dressing.

A 2 tablespoon serving should have no more than the following:

• 2g sugar
• 3g fat
• 250mg sodium
• 50 calories

If I show this to my husband, he will flip!  I'm still trying to convince him how much salad dressing he really needs on that salad!

Here are three that were recommended:

• Maple Grove Farms of Vermont fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Ken's Healthy Options Italian with Romano and Red Pepper
• Wish-Bone Salad Spritzers Asian Silk

Let me know what you use and how it stacks up here!

I Forgot

I don't know about any of you, but lately remembering things is getting more and more difficult!  I used to be able to keep it all organized in my head, no problem.  Lately, though?  Forget it!  I can't tell you how many times a  day I think, "I should blog that!" only to completely forget that fabulous idea a few hours later!  (And forget the tip about keeping notebooks lying around to write notes in!  Whenever I do that, my kids always find them and the pen that was lying there too, and I have an adorable notebook full of scribbles fabulous art!)

The May 2010 issue of Parents magazine had an article about memory, and there were two things in it that struck me.  The first, a University of Michigan study that found that  people who "chatted for 10 minutes before taking a series of mental tests performed better than those who didn't."   So those chit-chats with our friends can be seen as memory enhancers and not just idle gossip!

But here's the tip I loved the most . . .

• You forget where you parked.
  When you leave your car, instead of thinking about what you're there to do, take a moment to focus on where you are.  Then, as you walk away, look back to create a mental image of your car's location.  Or, even easier: Take a picture of the spot with your cell phone.

Is it just me?  Does this just sound ridiculous?  Are we really too caught up in our next errand that we can't remember where we park our cars?  Do we really need to "create a mental image" of that?  Don't most of us look up and see if there is an "A" or "B" or "C" where we parked?  This was one of those things that I read and thought, "I should really stop reading magazines for awhile!"  Here I am, trying to think of fabulous (and new!) topics for articles, and all I need to do is tell someone to use their cell phone to take a picture of their car.  ("One angry mother" is still in the house!)

Bike Boo-boos

Yahoo!  Kids at school, and this is the first day in a month that I have been able to come home and do my thing!  Of course, that first means getting some of my laundry done and paying the bills!  But now that those things are done, I can read and write and blog until it's time to go pick up my little darlings!

We had a  big day yesterday down at the park!  JJ rode his bike without training wheels for the first time!  And boy oh boy did that boy rocket!  He was an all-star, and it was so cool to watch!  I felt like I could literally see him grow 6 inches as he made his way around the park again and again and again!  He was so proud of himself.    Now Sarah?  That was another story!  We brought the Stryder bike for her to try and all she did was whine and cry.  It's hard to admit that we are probably pushing her too hard right now, but we are so used to her stepping up to the plate and wanting to do what JJ does!  But he wasn't riding a bike when he was three!  Then I saw a cute little girl (older than Sarah) riding a cute pink, two-wheeler with training wheels, and I thought, "Maybe we should try that!!!"  (Will someone please tell me to just back off and let her work it out on her own?)

Watching JJ loop around the park on his bike reminded me of something that I read in the February 2010 issue of Parents magazine.  It was an article about how to make a trip to the emergency room less stressful for your child.  But there was one tip in there that I thought was really smart.  They recommend taking a video or photo of the incident or scene where your child was injured.  I know that sounds like a highly unlikely feat, but the doctor they quoted (Dr. Anne Stack, clinical chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Children's Hospital Boston) says, "It might sound far-fetched, but you won't believe how helpful it can be.  If we're waffling about whether to take a scan of a child's brain, we can look at the mangled bike or see how far she fell and say, 'Absolutely.'"

JJ didn't fall until he came home and tried riding his bike in the  garage.  And once he fell, the waterworks started, and he did not want to ride his bike ever again!  I sat down with him and told him about the time when I was 5 and crashed my bike into a tree outside our house.  I ended up with a black eye and a scar covering my entire chin.  He thought that was funny, and we talked about how Mommy kept riding her bike and fell down more times too, just like he is going to do.  He felt better and decided he wanted a snack.  So we went inside to take a break.   

He thought it was even cooler when I brought out a photo album that my mom made me for my 30th birthday and showed him the picture my mom took of my face--after the tears and trauma, of course!  That seemed to take his mind off everything, and today we are headed back to the park to show PopPop the latest!

Butternut Squash and Blueberries--NOT Together, Of Course!

The other night I made the most delicious dinner!  It was from a recipe I had ripped out of the November 2009 issue of Parents magazine--Butternut Squash Casserole.  Unfortunately, there is no link to it, but I can give you some of the details!

Essentially, you just bake some cut up butternut squash.  Cook your pasta (whole wheat elbows or whatever you have!)  Then make a cheese sauce, mix it all together and bake it until it is warmed through.  It was sogood!  The butternut squash (which I happen to love!) was so carmelized and yummy!  I will definitely add even more squash the next time.  And I'll probably play around with the cheese sauce to make it less fattening.  Either way, it was immediately a fave in our house!

If you need more details, let me know!  But this is definitely a dinner worth trying on one of these cold, rainy nights!

Today is a "stay-at-home day" in our house, and I am feeling like cooking and cleaning!  (What's wrong with me?)  We're going to make this yummy blueberry cake recipe from one of my favorite blogs 101 Cookbooks.  Not only does she make great food, but she takes beautiful pictures as well!  (This cake will be gone before the end of the evening!)

I hope you enjoy whatever you do today!