Sunday, June 12, 2011

Cooking, Freezing and Super Nannying

The whole of Saturday was spent with me laying on the couch, sneaking back to bed, silently cursing my children for being so loud and whining about my achey body, sinus pressure and general ickiness.  It was bad and considering that Taylor only called me out on it one time was quite the miracle.  I was convinced I would never feel better and I was doomed to a life of miserableness.

Good thing I woke up feeling remarkably better this morning!  Still tired and achey - can't quit whining until I am *all* better -- but functional, which is a great deal better than yesterday.

In my daze of laying on the couch yesterday, I came up with two plans to make my life better:

1. Cook ahead and freeze meals during the weekend so we can begin eating dinner once again since I have officially accepted that Henry has given up naps, thereby leaving me zero cooking time during the day.


Since Liza and I were up at 5:45 this morning, I had plenty of time to meal plan and write a grocery list.


Bottom to Top:
White bean cake "dough" for oven baked bean cakes to accompany our dal
Spaghetti
(2) bags of veggie filled coconut curry
(2) bags of lentil dal -- I totally lost interest in cooking by the time I got to the dal so it is quite dry and not so tasty.  I'm hoping it resurrects with a good reheating and perking up.
*Not pictured is the the double batch of chili bubbling away in the crockpot or the double batch of pizza dough I was too lazy to make.

2. Introduce "Family Rules" to our Super Nanny-style "Time-Out Chair".


 Three minutes in the TOC has worked wonders with Henry in the past few days.   It was a major battle the first day for him to stay in the chair but consistency taught him if he didn't stay put, I would plop his little butt right back down.


I felt he needed a bit more direction with the TOC so we went full-force Super Nanny and wrote our "Family Rules".  The former elementary school teacher in me needed to frame the rules in a positive light but "Be gentle" didn't seem clear enough and "Let Lulu keep whatever she has in her hands" wasn't good....so, 'No hurting' and 'No snatching' it is.  The plan was to tape the rules to the door by the TOC but we are all out of tape due to a certain little someone ripping up books with her grubby little hands.

I am probably completely jinxing myself but he hasn't hurt Liza or snatched a toy away from her all.day.long.  Seriously.

******DISCLAIMER******
Due to the nature of acting like I have my life together and my ducks in a row publicly on my blog, I am now doomed to a week of parenting failures and baby disasters.

But, at least we'll have supper to eat.

10 comments:

Amanda said...

I wish you much luck! Your disclaimer made me laugh right out loud!!! Isn't that always the way?

Kaitlin @ More Like Mary said...

The speechy part of me loves your time out chair and rules! :)

Out of India said...

Time out...an opportunity for conceptual understanding

Wait until both children get older and break the rules at the same time...

Put each in a different time out chair with a specific exit strategy...

Get permission from your sibling to get out of time out...

Gain an understanding of the concept of negotiation...

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Glad I could make you laugh, Amanda but I'm pretty sure I'm doomed for failure now.

Kaitlin, thanks! I'm wondering why the teacher in me hasn't surfaced earlier...

Carla, excellent! But for now, Liza thinks nothing is funnier than Henry crying in the TimeOut Chair ;)

Tara said...

I don't know what I am going to do when Sadie grows out of naps. Your recent blog entries about Henry going nap-free are striking fear into the mom heart of me. I loved your disclaimer. That is pretty much how it goes here too. Hope you feel better!

Emily said...

Laura, We love Super Nanny and have been using the time out technique since Graham was 18 months old. It is very effective! Be consistent and don't over use it and Henry will do great! Miss you tons! xoxo

Tricia said...

Bahahahhhaa- I love seeing Trisha's Granola on your list...

Mollyandollie said...

Great post Laura!!! I hate to think of them as parenting failures. I prefer to think of them as fodder for my children's future therapy sessions. I mean they have to have something to talk about right?

Laura @ Our Messy Messy Life said...

Tara, yep. My mom heart grows very cold each afternoon around 3 when I am all.used.up.

Emily, I had no idea :) It really is working very well. His controlling little butt refuses to stay in the chair since I wrote this so I'm not sure how long the chair is going to stick around but the posted rules have been like magic.

Tricia, as I wrote that on my list I wondered if I was spelling your name right. Looks like I was wrong. Still haven't made the granola but I'm pretty excited about it.

Molly, true. But, one of my biggest goals is to limit the need for therapy and midnight self-evaluation sessions as an adult :)

Emily said...

Laura, If the actual chair becomes the problem, take it away and have him sit or stand (his choice) in time out. Just like Super Nanny, you are going to have to "train" him to stay in time out. Be consistent! He will get it! Hulu Super Nanny and watch her techniques of being consistent, (very hard especially when you are already tired) But your hard work will pay off, and he will learn to sit or stand for 3 minutes. After he learns about time out, then it will be effective for "bad behavior" ie, hitting, taking away toys... and when he is in "time out" you have 3 minutes to regroup yourself:) I'm sure you already do this but remember to praise all of that good behavior when its occurring, "Henry great job playing with your trucks"
Keep us posted on your outcomes.
You CAN DO IT!!