Pretend Play

As you can guess since Abby will be two in less than two weeks she is a handful. I swear it's a good handful 98% of the time and we're elated to be having the handfuls that we have compared to other parents out there.

One of the times that Abby is most stubborn is at lunch or dinner time.  (For the record, she's an angel in the morning at breakfast...)  We often find ourselves reminding her that it's time to eat, not time to throw things on the floor or watch Elmo or Signing Time on the computer.  Meal time is for meals.

On Monday while Anny and I were in the kitchen cleaning up and getting things ready for dinner prep we could hear Abby quietly playing in the living room.  She was playing with her castle toy, complete with people and a huge dining table.

The one-sided, aimed-at-toys conversation we overheard was:

"Sit down."
"Dinner, sit down."
"Sit, Eat."
"SIT."
"SitSitSitSit!"

I'm not quite sure where she has heard that before...

All of her meal time troubles go away if you give her a cookie:

Skype is Ruining TV

I have Skype - do you?  (If you do, look me up if we know each other.  If you just stumbled here, please don't look me up on Skype, that's just weird.)  We have used the service only a small handful of times, but hope to expand our use and get the larger family in on it.  (P&S - we need to talk about that!)

If you don't know what Skype is - it's a freely downloaded program that you can use for audio and/or video calls with other people that have the service - for FREE.  I meant to use it when my sister was in Ireland last fall, but never did.  You can also pay to use the service if you want to line it up with your cell phone or want to do other special feature types of things, but we use the basic version and are happy with it.

While I love it for personal use, it appears that Oprah, and other TV programs, are using Skype.  I think I've even seen it on CNN for interviews with "common folks" like me.  My problem is that it used to mean something to be on Oprah.  They would fly you to Chicago to see the show and be a part of a real interview.  The episode that drove me the most crazy - understanding that I only catch Oprah twice a month or so - was the one with Steve Harvey.  (He's brilliant by the way)  They had eight or nine screens set up in the audience and they got to ask Steve questions. 

Do you mean to tell me that no woman in the (all woman) audience had good questions to ask?  Could the questions not have been asked through email? 

I get even more annoyed with CNN does it.  They used to send real reporters out to places for a reason - Anderson Cooper (is he on CNN?  I just know he is cute and toying with people about his sexuality.  Good for him I say.)  knows how to report on a story with facts.  That's much better than any report I could ever give.

I guess I'm a purist when it comes to my junk TV, that's all.

Oprah and CNN - you're on notice.  Knock off the Skyping and just bring people in or interview them for real.  Technology is supposed to be fun, but you're taking something fun and making it seem like you're really lazy.

Unless you want to talk with me - my username is armonroe.  :o)

Gluten-Free, Two Weeks In

So my sister moved in two weeks ago and things are going really well, I would say.  (She might say differently to her friends, but seems to be happy, too.)

As I have mentioned before, our biggest hurdle this summer will be the food we eat:

• Michelle is Gluten Free and not a huge fan of veggies, but willing to try new things
• Anny is supposed to cut out sugar and eat lots of veggies and meats, but does not like meat
  
• I am not supposed to have potassium, and should not go crazy with protein. (i.e. no Atkins)
• Abby eats whatever she wants, but is very willing to taste new things.  Last night she ate a piece of onion straight up, much to the disgust of Michelle.  :o)
  

We are trying new recipes, and will be keeping some of them to use even when Michelle is back at school.  There is a recipe for Gluten Free Brownies that we have adapted from Emeril that are great - bananas and applesauce make it really moist - and we each taste them differently.  (Since I have not had a banana in about seven years, that is the taste that stands out to me.  Anny tastes the applesauce.  I think Michelle just tastes brownies that don't give her migraines.)

We have asked Michelle to be honest with what she does and does not like, because for as much as we try new things in our house, we settle into routines that last about six weeks or so.  For a period of almost three weeks this spring we did pizza or calzones for three nights a week.  Yeah, that was good eating, but probably really bad for us in the long run.

As we plan for Abby's birthday, which is coming up way too quickly if you ask me, we are even planning on an GF cake so that all can enjoy.  Yes, we are those "make everyone happy" folks that you dread talking to sometimes.


Michelle has shared with us a few of her recent GF finds, too.  Turns out that chips and salsa are just fine for her, and I can not say no to that!

Michelle also wants to do a bit more cooking, so we're on the hunt for easy to learn, Gluten Free recipes that are appealing outside of the GF world.  If you have links to easy stuff like that, let me know!

(Now I am going to go write another post and tell it to show up tomorrow - two blog posts from Rob in less than a month should be interesting.  I think I'm going to attack Oprah next.)

(And how is that for a teaser?)

Happy Mother's Day

While I have neglected my duties just a little bit for Anny's special day*, I wish all of you mom's out there a Happy Mother's Day.  It is hard work no matter what the age of your children, or of yourself.  I pray today that you have peace and quiet, a cooked meal that someone else had made, and a feeling that you are loved. 

As I know the struggle that many people have, I am pasting my favorite (if that's the right word) Mother's Day prayer from a few years back written by my friend Jan Edmiston.  She wrote this the MD before Anny and I were parents and we were struggling mightily with our situation.  This brought me peace:

I'm thinking about and praying for all those for whom tomorrow will be a rough day: those with mean mothers, sick mothers, absent mothers, disappointing mothers. Those who would love to be mothers but are not. For mothers who have lost their children and children who have lost their mothers.

 *Due to a heavy work load this week I was not able to pick up a gift certificate, but the intent is there and that's all I can say right now due to the readership of this blog.  It's not dirty, there just might be other mom's involved.  If I keep typing, I'll spill the beans...

Wordless Wednesday - Where is Abby?

327/365 Where is Abby?
Originally uploaded by armonroe

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