Lunch time guilt

One of the blogs I've recently started to follow, Cop Mama, hosted "Mama Guilt Monday" yesterday. I'm a little late to the party, but as soon as I saw the topic, I was immediately transported to last Thursday when I was covering Charlie's classroom so his teacher could enjoy the Teacher Appreciation Luncheon for Catholic Schools week.

Overall, the experience was enjoyable, as evidenced by my Facebook updates (courtesy of my trusty iPhone):

Covering the 4th grade class for the teacher luncheon. Too bad I didn't think to bring my coat in for recess duty. Brrrrrrr!

I've been informed by the 4th graders that I am "cold" because I threatened to pop the balloon one kid was playing with when she should be reading.

Self-selected reading time and my kid is looking at a Scooby Doo "where's waldo" book. Technically not reading, but I'm letting it slide b/c I'm totally playing favorites.

Revolution on my hands b/c word is out that the other classes are watching movies and having fun while this class is doing journal writing.

What I didn't put out on Facebook was what happened in the lunch room. Sixty some 4th graders, all sitting around with lunches big enough to feed a third world country. (No hot lunches that day so the cafeteria staff could go to the luncheon, too.) Then there was my Charlie, sitting at his table with his Target bag lunch sack and a lonely peanut butter sandwich and carton of chocolate milk.

"Charlie, where are the apple and the carrots that were with your lunch?" I had made the lunch ahead of time, putting it loose in the refrigerator, so all he had to do was put it in a lunch box or bag and take it to school.

"Well, I ate the apple for a snack and I didn't get any carrots."

Can you say sinking, I'm-just-a-terrible-mother guilt? This is my kid who is always complaining about being hungry. Sure, his menu of acceptable items is limited and he only eats what I term "crappy" meats -- chicken nuggets, hot dogs, hamburgers. And if he chose not to take the carrots I had bagged up for him, that wasn't my fault.

But still, in the face of all those kids with potato chips and lunchables and cookies and applesauce, my kid with his measly PB & honey sandwich made me want to cry.

I felt guilty because I hadn't thought to pack him a separate snack (they are allowed to bring one daily) so he didn't have to pilfer the apple from his lunch. I felt guilty because I didn't just put the elements of the lunch in a sack or lunch box so he would be sure to at least have all 3 things I'd planned for him to eat at lunch. I felt guilty that we didn't have a lot to pack at home because money is tight, which led me to think that maybe money wouldn't be so tight if I made wiser choices about how to spend the money we do have. It was basically one big spiral of guilt.

So what did I do with it? Well, after wallowing in the guilt for a few minutes, I walked around the lunch room. I noticed one kid with an overflowing lunch box at Charlie's table who was basically playing with his food. So I said, "Hey, if you're not going to eat some of that, can you share it with Charlie because all he has is a peanut butter sandwich."

I know you're thinking, "Oh no you didn't!" And I'm telling you "yes, I did!" Shameless, I know, but as I saw a wrapped package of string cheese make it's way across the table to my kid, I felt a little less guilty.

No sour grapes

Of course I would have LOVED to see my Indianapolis Colts bring home another Lombardi trophy. And I might have gotten a little overzealous in my cheering and let a few soap-worthy words slip in mixed company while watching the game.

Sure, it seemed as though the refs misplaced their yellow flags for much of the first half (not an excuse just an observation), but the fact of the matter is that the New Orleans Saints played an awesome, ballsy game last night.

I think the on-side kick to open the second half changed the tempo of the game. The Saints, it appeared from my vantage point, were hungrier for the win. And they were rewarded with the sweet taste of victory.

So, just this once, I'll say it. Geaux Saints!

Trash talkin' not spoken here

Unless you're living under a rock, you know that today is the day of Superbowl 44 (please don't ask me to put it in Roman numerals). And unless you're a Patriots fan just trying to forget that the sport of football even exists, you're probably aware that the Indianapolis Colts will take on the New Orleans Saints at 6:30pm EST tonight.

Living in Indianapolis, we are definitely Colts fans. I'm not sure I'd call us die-hard -- we don't have season tickets, we don't tailgate before the games and we don't have horseshoes shaved into our sons' heads.

But on game days the whole family gets out the Colts jerseys, sweatshirts, and in my case, bedazzled horseshoe shirt. The "good" TV is reserved for game watching and I stay up late to watch the replays and the analysis on Sports Locker.

So here we are, less than 6 hours from kick-off and yet I can't seem to bring myself to do much trash talking (unlike the kids on a local radio station's "Toddlers Talking Trash" segment, which was pretty funny). The best I've been able to muster is this graphic that I put on my Facebook page:

Don't get me wrong. I WANT the Colts to win. I KNOW the Colts can win. I HOPE they will win. But I don't have a deep-seated loathing of the Saints that I do, say, of the Patriots. Trust me, if the Patsies and their pretty boy Tom Brady were playing, I'd have plenty to say.

But it's the Saints. They hail from a very cool city. They don't have anyone on the team who is (at least to my knowledge) arrogant or sporting a God complex. They aren't cheaters. They have a quarterback who cut his football teeth in college on Indiana soil.

So, I don't have a lot to say about the Colts opponents tonight. Sure, I did say in response to someone who wondered which team Archie Manning, former Saints player and father of Colts QB Peyton Manning, would be rooting for: Blood is thicker than gumbo.

But that and my little Facebook graphic is about all I've got. Go Colts!

How much is my time worth?

Mike got his last paycheck from his former employer yesterday. I won't get paid again until February 25th. So I'm trying to be very mindful about stretching that money over the next two and a half weeks.

To that end, I sat down to make a 3-week dinner menu, trying a new format some cyber friends suggested.

Sundays - Crockpot meal

Mondays - Chicken/beef meal

Tuesdays - Meatless meal

Wednesdays - Mexican (which may or may not be meatless)

Thursdays - Leftovers

Fridays - Pizza/sandwiches (until Lent begins, at which point this category will switch with Saturday's meatless option)

Saturdays - Meatless meal

Once I had my menu made out (only 1 repeat in 21 days, pretty good if I do say so myself), I sat down to make the shopping list. I spent 10 minutes debating whether or not I should bake my own bread and make my own hot chocolate mix. Seriously, I could not decide for the life of me.

I ended up deciding I'd make my own dinner breads, but would buy the sandwich breads and the hot chocolate. All right, already! Back to the list. I have some meat already purchased and in the freezer, so that's good. The rest of the list looks pretty manageable.

Then it was time to gather up the coupons to match what was on my list. Ideally, I would have made my menu with the grocery ad in front of me, then matched coupons to that. But I figured I was good to get the menu made in the first place. So first I went to coupons.com and clicked then printed all the coupons that appealed to me. Then I went to Meijer.com, clicked through the Meal Box and printed those coupons.

As if I wasn't couponed enough by then, I dug through last Sunday's paper for the coupon inserts to see if there were any coupons I need there. (Still haven't gotten that coupon system down I put on my 2010 to do list).

At that point, I needed to lay down for a nap because I'd been working on this freaking menu and shopping list for something like 3 hours! Feeling too guilty to nap, I stayed with it, marking the list as to what I'd buy at Meijer and what I'll buy at Aldi. Of course, neither store is very close to us -- that would be Marsh and Target. But their prices are higher - unless I have my 10% off shopping certificate for filling 10 prescriptions at the Target pharmacy.

Ordinarily, I do my big shopping at Meijer, but my sister swears by the produce at Aldi. I stopped in there the other day and some of the things were pretty cheap. However, shopping there requires a to-do list all its own. Have cash -- and a quarter for the cart -- ready. Bring your own shopping bags. Leave the coupons at home.

So now I have my 3-week menu, my Meijer list, my Aldi list, my printed coupons, my newspaper coupons and my obsessive mind wondering if I should get any of this stuff at Costco.

What don't I have?

Groceries.

Think I might have to go get those tomorrow because all this work getting ready to go shopping has quite frankly worn me out and left me thinking, "just how much is my time worth anyway?"

(And you know as soon as I get home, I'll be pulling out the Sharpie marker and putting half of the groceries into hiding. Otherwise all my budgeting and planning will be eaten right before my eyes!)

Friday Fragments: The Sleepless Edition

I wish I were sleepblogging right now, unaware that I'm posting my Friday Fragments at 3am because that would mean that I would actually be asleep. But alas, for the second night in a row, I'm awake at 3am. No chicken tonight, though. Just joining Mrs. 4s for her weekly Friday Fragments.

So without further delay, I give you Friday Fragments: The Sleepless Edition



Last week, Charlie failed his hearing screening at school. It's not the first time. He's got a funky double barrel ear canal, which sometimes makes hearing tricky. So I trotted him off to the ENT. When they attempted to do a more specialized hearing test, they couldn't because he had wax in the canal. Well, duh, don't we all? Oh no...not like this. I think the doc must have pulled 3 or 4 mini-M&M size chunks of wax from just one ear. It was disgusting and fascinating all at once. After he got both ears cleaned out, his hearing was much better. Now he has no excuse for not emptying the dishwasher when I tell him to.



Last week when B invited us to talk about our favorite date nights, I couldn't remember the last time Mike and I actually went out on a date. But last night, we went to a Butler basketball game -- with free tickets, which is the only way we're doing anything in this post-downsizing era of our lives. We had lots of fun, especially when I thought we were sitting next to Jared the Subway guy (false alarm) and despite the fact that our kids got locked out of the house while we were gone (thanks Kate for taking them in!).



For Catholic Schools Week this week, the kids got to go roller skating. They all had a great time, especially Robbie. One of his teachers stopped me in the hall today to tell me that SHE had a great time watching Robbie because he was SO excited -- "Look at me! I can go FAST!" Given all our struggles with Robbie and his finding his way at school, having her tell me that was a real gift. Thanks Mrs. F!



My honey-do list became a Jose-do list this week. Thanks to Vera for passing on Jose's name. He painted Annie and Robbie's rooms this week and hung the door to my pantry. Next up on the list, the garbage disposal, the screen porch, flooring in the bedrooms. Just as soon as we're double income again!



Robbie and Annie's birthdays are next week (hence the new paint in the bedrooms -- a bday gift from their great-grandmother). It's Annie's golden birthday -- 13 on the 13th, so she'll be having a sleepover. For Robbie's 7th, we're planning an at-home Lego party. A boy party in my house. Totally goes against my "no boy parties at home" rule, but I'll try anything once!



We're supposedly expecting a big snowstorm this weekend. I'm trying not to get my hopes up. But I'm totally going to the grocery store, just in case.



The Superbowl is this Sunday. I don't understand this whole "Who Dat" phenomenon. The Colts may not have a catchy phrase in the stands, but we have the goods on the field. Hope all those Saints fans are ready to drown their sorrows in Hurricanes and gumbo when the Colts are finished with them.



And those, my friends, are the sleepless frags for this week. Same place, hopefully different time, next week.

It's 3am. Do you know where your chicken is?

Ok, actually right now it's 3:29am and I've been awake for 2 hours. This used to be pretty much the norm for me. (Search the word "sleep" on my blog and you'll get a surprising amount of posts that talk about how I need more sleep or how I am awake in the middle of the night.) But lately, I've been doing much better going to bed at a decent hour and actually sleeping all night.

Tonight, however, I went to bed at 9:30pm and woke up at 1:30am. I laid there for about 15 minutes and felt my leg muscles tightening up -- should have stretched before and after the treadmill last night. When I reached down to try to massage some of the aching muscles, I realized it's been a while since I'd shaved my legs. And I have to be at the gym to meet Fr. Kyle at 7am.

So I did what any insomniac would do. I got up, took a hot bath, and shaved my legs. When I was in the bathtub, I remembered that the kids have to pack their lunch for school today. And since I'm leaving for the gym before they leave for school, I got out of the tub, got dressed and went downstairs to make lunches.

Only when I got downstairs, I remembered our cupboards are pretty bare right now. But I did have some chicken drumsticks thawed it the fridge. So I decided to cook those to pack in lunch boxes. Fifty minutes at 400 degrees brings us once again to:

It's 3am. Do you know where your chicken is?

Biggest Loser: Sorry

Ugh! Both the cable boxes were on the fritz tonight and Mike wasn't home, so I couldn't go anywhere to watch the Biggest Loser. (Do they show it on TV at the bars like they do big games?)

For a decent -- though not as colorful and interesting as I would have done -- recap, click here.

Then come back here and let me just say, based on the recap:

• I felt so bad (even just reading about it) that the Blue team had to come back and leave right again. Why couldn't the producers have pulled some big surprise and let them both stay?
• Along those lines, it would have been nice to let O'Neal give his spot to Vicki, as he said he wished he might. Maybe next season BL will be more into charitable play?
• If Bob really believes Melissa wasn't game playing, I'd say Dr. H. needs to examine his head. Hellooooo? Can you really be that dumb? It's spelled M-A-N-I-P-U-L-A-T-I-O-N. I know, my 6-year-old is a pro.
  
• Just the mere mention of the name "Daris" in the recap is enough to make me pray for a speedy transport to makeover week so they can cut off that mop on his head.
• They mentioned Super Bowl week. Please tell me they were giving Peyton Manning and my Colts some love?!
• I wonder if anyone was standing over Miggy in that ambulance saying "Don't cry!"
  
• Ugh! I am really, really upset that they would let Miggy come back and exercise the way she was -- 13 miles the first day back after surgery? Does that seem safe to you? Maybe I'm just a wimp and would totally use an appendectomy -- or an eyebrow wax -- as an excuse to lay on the couch for at least a few days.
• One can only hope that they removed some of Miggy's attitude along with her appendix.
  
• I'm sad that John went home, but it sounds like things are going well for him. Still, he was a nice even-keeled presence in the house. I hope he and his brother tear it up in the at-home challenge.
  

Thanks for indulging my crappy recap this week. Next week, I'm on it -- PROMISE.