L is for Lunch

Logan started kindergarten on August 22.  He wants to eat packed lunch and wants everything separated, so I got these containers from Amazon.com.  I use wax paper to keep the foods separated.  It’s not a completely “waste-free” lunch, but the wax paper works well to keep the crackers and cheese and fruit tasting fresh and appetizing.  I just use scissors to cut the wax paper into sections that are about 6 inches by 6 inches and I end up using 3 of those in each lunchbox.  Even though the containers from Kinetic Go Green have dividers and the lid secures very tightly, there is a little bit of room for small foods like goldfish crackers to move from one of the sections into another.  I am also trying to prevent fruit juices from affecting the taste and texture of the crackers.

. . .

. . .

This photo shows the crackers still wrapped in wax paper.  One section has goldfish and the other has honey sticks.

. . .

. . .

This photo is after Logan has taken the crackers out of the wax paper.

. . .

. . .

Charlotte goes with me every Wednesday to eat lunch with Margaret at 10:40 and then with Logan at 11:15.  Sometimes she will sit down at the table and eat, but usually she likes to run around the cafeteria or crawl under the tables and get attention from all the students.

. . .

. . .

I pack the foods like ham and cheese up next to the ice pack and they stay very cold.  The apple turns a little bit brown in the 3 hours that pass between packing the lunch and eating it, but the cool temperature means it is still appetizing for Logan.  The Wednesdays that I have been there to sit with him he has been able to finish everything in the 30 minutes they are given to eat.

. . .

. . .

. . .

I have had to resort to nursing Charlotte while I eat lunch with Logan in order to keep her in my lap because by that time we’ve been in the cafeteria for almost an hour.  It was nice when she fell asleep!

. . .

. . .

Margaret is buying school lunch this year, but her lunch is so early in the day that she has to pack a snack.  She ends up eating lunch two times each day because the “snack” that I pack her is just as big as a packed lunch would be.  In these containers I usually pack a plum, peach, kiwi or grapes for Margaret and an apple cut in two and some strawberries for Logan.  Then for the protein Logan likes cheese cubes.  Margaret also likes cheese and she will eat peanut butter crackers or celery with peanut butter as well.  Then in the other two sections they take banana bread muffins made by my parents and graham sticks, goldfish crackers, and Letter of the Day cookies by Earth’s Best.  Half a sandwich cut in two also fits in one section.

. . .

. . .

This is what the Kinetic Go Green food container looks like when it is being washed.  We don’t have a dishwasher.  It’s not a big deal to wash these two boxes and the eight sections every night. They are very good quality.  Logan doesn’t have any trouble opening the lid and I like the size of the container which helps me get the portions right.  The lid is airtight because of a silicon gasket.

. . .

. . .

These containers are a much better way to pack lunch than the stainless steel boxes with the muffin cup dividers that I was using when Margaret was in preschool and kindergarten.  This way they can carry their lunchboxes by the handles and slide them upright into their narrow cubbies without the different foods mixing.

Well, it’s Wednesday (my day off from work) so I’ve got to get ready to go to the cafeteria and eat!

. . .

B is for Book

. . .

. . .

. . .

A is for Anticipation

. . .

. . .

Tiny Gift

My son took the top of the bug spray with him when he went outside to play.  We like to make sure that our children use bug spray because they have such terrible reactions to mosquito bites.  Soon he came back inside and handed me this tiny gift, a yellow flower just the right size for the “vase” he put it in.

. . .

. . .

He starts kindergarten on Monday.  We have his new bookbag packed with his school supplies and some ideas for what he wants in his lunchbox.  I met his teacher on Thursday.  I filled out all the paperwork that he brought back from open house and even had to take him to the doctor on Wednesday for a last minute polio vaccination that had been overlooked.

The varicella vaccination that he got at his 5 year check-up was really scary because the nurse could not get the plunger in the syringe to go down, so she had to stick his leg 3 times.  He tensed up and screamed and had us both in tears.  I promised him that he didn’t need another shot until he was 12 years old, but then the school nurse called me when she noticed that he still needed a polio booster.  Somehow it was overlooked by everyone at the checkup.  So on Wednesday I told him we had to run some errands.  We dropped off books at the library and a prescription at the pharmacy and then I told him that we had to go to the doctor’s office.  He asked who had the appointment and what it was about, but I didn’t tell him.

We got there about 15 minutes before the staff was ready to take him, so we played in the waiting room with the toys.  Then I whispered to him that he needed an “immunization” because he didn’t know that word yet.  I was hoping not to scare him.  He nervously asked if it was a shot, and I said it was.  Then he started screaming and trying to get out of my arms.

I asked for a lot of help holding him down on the table.  I think 4 members of the staff were in the room helping me, apart from the nurse who administered the shot, but I couldn’t see because I was crying.  It was over very quickly of course, and we wiped our tears with tissues and got our suckers and stickers and silly bands and hugs.

We immediately took the updated immunization record to the school nurse and hung out in her office for a few minutes, looking at photos of her grandson and a scorpion encased in a glass paperweight.

I am relieved he still thinks I am deserving of this tiny gift.  I am filled with love for my sweet boy.

Before and After

. . .

. . .

. . .

Beautiful You by Rosie Molinary

. . .

. . .

Some of you have been reading my blog long enough to remember when I wrote about the book Hijas Americanas.  Rosie and I started reading and commenting on each other’s blogs when a mutual friend from Davidson College told me about that book in 2007.   In May of this year we got the chance to meet in a park in Davidson and talk for a few minutes while our babies played together.  Meeting her was great, and it made me even more enthusiastic about spreading her message.

. . .

. . .

. . .

Rosie Molinary encourages women to live deliberately in her latest book, Beautiful You: a daily guide to Radical Self-Acceptance.  Through journaling, you act as your own coach, but because of the way this book is written, it feels like Rosie is by your side cheering you on.

I like books (well, novels honestly) that I can plow through quickly, and this is not one of those.  This book asks much more of you.  By reading it quickly in order to publish my review by the date that I promised I would, I denied myself the discoveries that daily journaling would have revealed.  I did do the task of Day 69 which was to sort through my clothes.  Then I bought myself a pack of new socks since I saw that I didn’t have any suitable ones in my drawer.

Not all of the 365 chapters will resonate with you.  There will be days that you need to receive a certain kind of advice or read a certain kind of anecdote.  The index makes it possible to find a chapter that speaks to you.  Skimming is another possibility when you are hoping to find just the right chapter for the moment.

Rosie writes in such a loving and friendly tone.  I desperately want to have that tone of voice myself and I know it will take a lot of practice.  Usually my voice is angry and critical.  There are so many ways in which I would love to be like Rosie!  She is an absolute inspiration.  I am going to re-read Beautiful You slowly and keep a journal as she suggests.  I hope you will take a moment to think of someone who could benefit from this book and then buy it from your local bookstore.

I received a copy of this book from the publicist in exchange for writing this review on my blog.

Vintage Woodsey Squirrels

These squirrels are finger puppets (you can put your thumb and index fingers in their arms) and they squeak when you squeeze them.  They are called Woodseys.  This set of toys was made by Fisher Price in 1979.  It includes a male squirrel, a female squirrel, two chairs, a table and a soft polyester log house.  There is a little boy squirrel named Milkweed, but I don’t know if we still have him.  Looking at other photos of this same toy on the internet I was reminded that the set also came with a bucket and a broom.  When I saw the photos, I remembered playing with them!  Maybe I will hunt for them among the saved toys in my parents’ basement.

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

My children love playing with the Woodseys.  I think it’s funny that they don’t exactly fit into their own house.  They are too tall to get through the door and then once they are inside, their heads touch the ceiling.  And they are much too big for their furniture.  But they are the perfect size to be held and played with.

. . .

. . .

. . .

. . .

I want to go in their house because it looks so cozy and comfortable with those warm colors and the ferns covering the ceiling and floor. The canned food, the wall cabinet with nine tiny drawers, and the cooking fire seem so inviting. Did you have this toy?