Seriously, 3 cannot come soon enough!! - Page 3

[hakeber]

I'll be honest and tell you I order in the chicken korma from a curry house or a buy a premade paste from the spice market and mix it with precooked chicken cubes for DS with peas and carrots and peppers and tomoatoes then thin out with canned coconut milk and serve it over rice.

But usually I just order that in.

I do a thai red curry with a paste from the store, and coconut milk...so for the boys I do chicken or fish in a big pot with the paste, onion, potatoes, and veggies galore and then pop the rice in the rice cooker with a couple tablespoons of the coconut milk, and I leave it all for 30 minutes to simmer away while I do baths and jammies, and then we have dinner, and stories and bed.  But we heat it up as left overs the next day and it's a four minute dinner the second time around. :)

Stuffed baked potatoes have always been very popular because A) it's left over night, and B) it;s do it yourself night, which DS has always loved.  We bake the totties in the microwave for 7 minutes and then finish them off in the oven to give them that crispt touch, then they are criss crossed and puffed up and everyone goes to the filling line where we have a grated cheese and sour cream filling, Beans, steamed broccoli florets, tuna and mayo, or whatever is left over in the frudge from the week's lunches and  whatnot. Left over chili and cheese is a big hit, so are lentils.

Hummus is hugely nutritional and we have at times had Hummus and pita crisps and dipping veggies (carrots, celery, etc) for dinner.  It feels a little wrong the first time you do party food for dinner, but actually Hummus is beans, tahini, garlic and lemon...I mean you don't get easier, and you don't get much more healthy really.

Does he like Quesedillas?  Because flour tortillas with pre cooked meat, grated cheese and an array of dips is also not so bad when cooked in a dry non-stick pan.  And tasty?  My DS loves Quesedilla night.  If I have the pre cooked chicken or if I nuke the chicken through about ten minutes on high, dust with a touch taco seasoning and lime juice they take about five minutes each to crisp up and melt the cheese and serve with salsa, guacamole, whatever. 

Spaghetti is also a quick fix for us. 

Can you do prep work the night before or on the weekend and then throw things in the oven when you get home?  Because things like Shepherds pie are really great to heat up, and you could do meatballs the night before and then pop them in the oven on skewers when you get home. 

Then of course there are PB and J sandwiches...if you make it a tradition, (you could choose the hardest night of the week) you could make if PB and J night, and make a special thing you two have, sandwiches and a video or something...it could be a sweet tradition you have.

Does he like soup?

I'll see if I can find some others.  

[hakeber]

I second the blackout thing.

When we lived in Scotland I went so far as to tape black opaque garbage bags over his windows to keep the sun out.  Without garbage bags he woke with the sun no matter what (solar powered child) with them he slept until noon once.   

[Super~Single~Mama]

Thanks for the recipe ideas!  He hates pasta with a passion, but all the rest I'll give a try - I especially like the baked potato idea.  How long would it take to do sweet potatoes?  He's my sweet potato man, so I bet baked sweet potatoes would be a HUGE hit.  And nutritious!

Originally Posted by hakeber 

I second the blackout thing.

When we lived in Scotland I went so far as to tape black opaque garbage bags over his windows to keep the sun out.  Without garbage bags he woke with the sun no matter what (solar powered child) with them he slept until noon once.   

Unfortunately, I can't do black out blinds.  There is a fan in the window that we must be able to use - especially since its getting warmer and there is no AC in the bedroom - only the living room.  Then in June or July we'll have to make it studio style for the rest of the summer with the bed in the living room (cause even the fan won't keep us cool enough in the hottest months).

[robinia]

I noticed you said he naps at daycare from 1-3.  Would daycare be receptive to waking him a little early from naptime?  This can be a big problem for them when they rely on the kids to be asleep so that they can have a break, and I do respect that - but with DS it made a huge difference when he was finally in a daycare room that would let him stay awake, and DD has been on a complete nap strike for some time now.  On those days when they did have even a 15 or 30 minute nap, we would often find that we would lose 3 hours of night time sleep.  This became a really bad cycle because they would be tired and grumpy the next day, sleep more heavily at nap time, miss out on more night time sleep and so on.  I know that you said it would be hard logistically to get him to bed earlier but you might find he would go to sleep more quickly and easily when it is bedtime, and also sleep better on the weekends.

I am full of sympathy as DD is also a huge screaming tantrummer, who doesn't like to be comforted, and if this continues through 3, 4 and 5, I really don't know what I will do!  I was reading on another forum last night where parents of teenagers were saying that it's harder than parenting toddlers, and I just about cried myself to sleep. 

[hakeber]

Originally Posted by Super~Single~Mama 

Thanks for the recipe ideas!  He hates pasta with a passion, but all the rest I'll give a try - I especially like the baked potato idea.  How long would it take to do sweet potatoes?  He's my sweet potato man, so I bet baked sweet potatoes would be a HUGE hit.  And nutritious!

Unfortunately, I can't do black out blinds.  There is a fan in the window that we must be able to use - especially since its getting warmer and there is no AC in the bedroom - only the living room.  Then in June or July we'll have to make it studio style for the rest of the summer with the bed in the living room (cause even the fan won't keep us cool enough in the hottest months).

I definitely think sweet potatoes could work.  Why not?

Would he consider sleeping with one of those sleep masks you get on airplanes? 
 

[~Amy~]

Originally Posted by hakeber 
You also need to let go of your idea of what it means to be a good mom when it comes to food (we all do). Between 2 and 4 I made more peanut butter and jam sandwiches than I can remember.  It was absurd,  But it's not totally unhealthy if he is also eating fruit throughout the day.  With this age group it is more important to look at the big picture rather than meal by meal,  he doesn't need three square meals in three different times of the day.  He needs a balance of protein fats and vitamins throughout the day.  So if he has six peanut butter and jam sandwiches (and you can get him to do so on whole grain bread) and three apples and a glass of milk (or if he's still nursing, even better) he's getting everything he needs.  Don't feel bad about it.

I'd like to thank you for this too  The food stuff is so hard to let go of.
 

[Super~Single~Mama]

Ok, so Greek yogurt with honey and strawberries (I freeze them and then thaw them out, so they are juicy) was a HUGE hit!  He LOVED it.  Now to figure out how to buy it a bit cheaper....he likes the Fage brand (which looks pretty healthy to me - there is a lot of sugar b/c of the honey, but if I only use half the honey its not quite as bad, and its not HCFS which is good!) anyone know if its possible to buy in bulk like at costco or BJ's for a bit less?  It's not cheap!!

And, he won't eat PB&J anymore.  Ugh.

[hakeber]

Originally Posted by Super~Single~Mama 

And, he won't eat PB&J anymore.  Ugh.

That is just like kids.

I don't know, but if you get a cheaper brand of plain yogurt you can strain it through cheese cloth overnight and get the same results.  I bet Costco has that sort of thing!

[HappyMommy2]

Originally Posted by Super~Single~Mama 

Seriously, 3 cannot come soon enough!!

Be careful what you wish for!!

:-)

hahaha

[Just1More]

I think you've moved past this in the thread, but I wanted to say it also sounds like sleep and uncertainty of boundaries to me.  Maybe because he has two households, maybe because he's two.  And maybe he has some sensory stuff going on, too.  My ds screamed a lot, until about 2 and a half.  Different things caused it at different poins, but always the source was a physical need and not bad parenting. 

We needed to figure out how to handle bad wheat issues (which he has outgrown), I had to learn to be clear and consistent (I thought I WAS), and he also needs hard physical contact daily.  We got the first two things figured out, but just couldn't get through the doctor jekyll and mr hyde.  And then, one day I started trading punches with him.   You know the age old game daddies play with their little boys?  Well, he laughed hysterically, and then threw himself in my arms and gave me an enormous hug. 

Anytime after that, when I see him start to get a little out of sorts, I snatch him up and we play some sort of hard physical game.  And he's better.  He needs this less and less as he gets older (he's almost 4 now), but I still see him run across the room and slam himself into the wall sometimes.