Snap Shot of My Life May 2017: What's working, and some other things
What's working:
- Yams in the slow cooker overnight. My husband and I are doing the Whole30 food "cleanse diet" for the month of May and it is sometimes challenging to get enough veggies cooked, especially for breakfast. I finally discovered I don't have to cook my yams in the oven. Just before bed, I peel and dice red or jewel yams, drop them in the slow cooker with a tiny bit of salt, and cook on low for 10 hours. I don't even have to add any water. They are ready when we get up in the morning. Perfect next to some eggs.
- Khan Academy before other screen time. While I try to limit my kids' screen time, we have been going through a lot of illnesses lately. Sometimes I just need a nap or time to get the dishes done. In those cases, I let my kids watch something, either a DVD or something on the PBS Kids website. Before they watch, however, they have to do as many problems on Khan Academy as they are years old. Because it's just something we always do, they never argue about it any more and they enjoy earning badges.
- Fresh fruit or other healthy snacks right after school. Not when we get home, immediately after school. I take apples or Lara bars or Gogo squeeze packets with us and we eat them on the walk to the car. That makes the walk to the car go better and sets up the rest of the afternoon to at least have chance of going well.
- Cookies! I have had a really hard time getting my toddler to eat. He has low iron levels and he has not been excited about eating very many things. I offer him all the food we eat and lots of baby food options as well. I found Gerber Graduates Arrowroot Cookies; each cookies has 10% of his daily value for iron and he actually eats them. So now he gets a cookie for dessert at the end of every meal. We just started this yesterday; I really hope it keeps working.
- Reading Rockets book lists. I like to request books from the library so when we are in a hurry, I don't have to spend time trying to find something good. The Reading Rockets website has lists of books by topic and summer book lists going back several years. Almost all the books we have requested from these lists have been big hits in our family.
What I wish were working:
- Audio books. I have been listening to and loving the Read Aloud Revival podcast. Sarah Mackenzie and her guests keep talking about how important it is for children to hear good books and how audio books really might be better than the child reading silently to themselves. Children might be tempted to skip over things or might not know how to say certain words. Our library has a number of audio books available digitally from our computer. However, my kids aren't really interested in listening to them right now. My preschooler does not even want to try to listen. My 1st grader says she wants to hear them, but then wanders off and starts talking about something else. Maybe in another season we will find a place for audio books in our life.
- Classics for Kids. I found a great website that has weekly radio shows introducing kids to classical music. I enjoy listening. But my preschooler wants me to turn it off and my 1st grader just wants to take the quiz, guessing the answers until she gets them right.
- Taking and managing photos of my kids. Always something to work on. I want to remind myself not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Books I'm thinking about:
What I have been listening to while I do the dishes:
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