Cooking for Children

I will not try and take credit for much of the cooking in our house. Sarah does most of the food planning, and cooking at home. If I cook one meal a week on average, then it has been a good week. This is mostly due to the fact that Sarah gets out of work before I do, and by default has the time to get what we need for dinner. However, when I do cook, the food can be put into four major categories. 1) Tomato Sauce and something else. This includes pasta and meatballs, a lovely dish called orange spigets, tonight's new addition to the rotation, which was ravioli in sauce, or a pizza. 2) Protein, vegetable, starch. The most common version of this is steak tips, orzo and a can of peas. Easy, tastes good, not so bad for you. 3) Microwave night. Common dishes are Evol burritos and a "Mexican Dip" which has replaced an old favorite, nachos. Finally 4) Grilling in the back yard, which can be as frequent as 3 nights a week during the more pleasant months of the year.

What I am starting to realize with the kid on the way, is how this may change a bit. I don't think the four major groups will change much. These are my strengths, and I should not mess with a good thing. In my time spent with the little ones that we currently know, I find kids like (in by kids this ranges in children with new teeth to like 3 year olds): Cheerios, gold fish, little tiny cut up pieces of a mystery meat. Chicken Tenders and French Fries (shout out to Brody). French Fries and Broccoli (shout out to Reese), spaghetti, hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream.

I think most of that food fits into my four groups, so I am good. I can cook for a kid no problem! I remember my parents challenges in cooking for us kids. I was a picky eater, and would claim to not like things I liked probably two weeks prior. I remember telling my dad that I felt the recipe had been altered by some brand of canned beef stew, and therefore no longer would eat it. I hope our kid is not quite as picky. Sarah can attest to how bad it can still get sometimes. I have to remember to lead by example, and be sure and have my no thank you serving without making any faces or unnecessary sound effects while eating it!

Conquer the crib

That is what we did:

Kick in the face...

It is getting to the point in the incubation period (aka pregnancy)where there is quite a bit of movement going on in that oven! Sarah of course feels this stuff all day (even gets woken up at night, occasionally). I have felt it a few times on my hand, and even seen the belly moving with my eyes, which was pretty awesome.

The other morning however, I was partaking in a ritual of mine to help the baby get to know my voice, speaking useless information into Sarah's belly. I think I was telling little junior about March, or the weather or maybe plainly what day of the week it was, but somewhere in the middle of the one sided conversation, he/she kicked me right in the face.

One may get angry in another situation of getting kicked the face, but this did not really hurt that much, and truthfully was probably one of the coolest things I have been able to experience during the bun baking process. I am not sure if the kick was actually a kick, or a punch or a head bunt or something else, but it stopped me mid sentence, because I was so shocked! Of course I then sat there with a cheesy grin on my face repeating to Sarah a few times, oh he/she just kicked me in the face!

I now expect this every time I go in for a conversation, and though a repeat kick has not happened yet, I am hoping for it a few more times. Once the little one is out in the real world, I will settle for smiles, giggles and other avenues of affection, but for now, I will take the kick in the face.