I have a bunch of thoughts swirling through my head today that I decided the world should know about :)
Cast Iron Skillet
Enhancing my Southern cred, I bought myself a skillet last year. Y'all, it rocks! I mean, seriously, how did I cook without one? We had some friends over for dinner recently and I made a pork loin that was first seared then roasted in the skillet. I usually don't even like pork loin very much, and it came out delicious. I just fried up some leftover potatoes from dinner last night to accompany my lunch today - so tasty! It's really easy to take care of, too. I thought it would be high maintenance b/c I remember my mom always drying hers by heating it in the oven (or something...memory is a bit foggy). All I have to do with mine after washing is dry it out then wipe with a little cooking oil. Presto!
"At Least"
Salmonista's conversation recommendation: if you'd like to be polite, do your best to avoid using the phrase "at least." I can't think of any uses that bring you closer to another person. Ok, maybe sarcastic examples, but sarcasm is a tricky tool to wield. At best, "at least" makes you seem slightly uninterested or superior. At worst, it leaves your conversational partner silently (or visibly) seething.
Innocuous example
Person A: Oh, it started raining! Sad, I was hoping we could eat dinner on the patio tonight.
Person B: Well, at least it was sunny this morning.
Person A's internal monologue: <Yeah, but I was stuck in the office all day in a cube farm and didn't even get to glance at a sunbeam, so I've been looking forward to an al fresco dining experience to bring a small crumb of joy to my soul!>
Really unfeeling example
Person A: I'm so upset. I just found out my child has a serious illness.
Person B: Oh, at least he doesn't have this other serious illness I heard about that sounds even worse!
Person A's internal monologue: <AHHHHHH! Stop forming a hierarchy of badness and acknowledge my pain!>
Lawn Mower Rage
Last spring/summer, my neighbor always mowed his lawn right around 9:30AM, which was when the boys were going down for a morning nap. He'd buzz his noisy gas-powered mower over the strip of grass right outside their nursery window, and I'd stew as I was sure he was going to wake them up. (Sidebar: they only woke up a couple times.) Today, I realized that although his grass is neatly trimmed, I haven't even noticed him mowing the lawn this year. I assume he's still a morning mower, but these days we're usually out of the house around 9:30. Last summer, hearing a noisy mower seemed like the worst thing ever. But now I barely even think about it.
Floor Cleaning
About this time last year, I was obsessed with sweeping our hard wood floors. The boys were crawling/creeping/rolling all over the place, and I probably swept once a day to keep the kids from becoming total dust and dirt balls. Now, well, they walk/run/climb just fine. And they also make a much bigger mess around the house. I wasn't feeling too well earlier this week, so I spent the day laying on the couch playing Daniel Tiger episodes from Amazon while feeding the children ten different types of crackers, chips, and cookies. DF kindly swept up the main crumb piles they had produced. Then this morning I found a bunch of crushed crackers in the playroom under some toys. I gathered the larger pieces the best I could. The mess really doesn't stress me out as much any more. And don't even ask about my mopping regimen. We seriously need a dog. Except then I'd have even more messes to deal with :)
Friday, May 26, 2017
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Traveling with Twins: Road Trip Edition
Last month, we took a two-week road trip with our twin one-year-olds...and we survived! It really was an epic journey, since we traveled in our Odyssey van, ha ha :)
This trip was both harder and easier than our only other previous long trip, to Oregon. Since we were driving this time, we were able to bring more of the kids' own stuff along. I think it helped them to have familiar pack-and-plays and other accessories for sleeping. We have travel booster seats for meal time, and those were handy, too.
In an attempt to live out our childhood dreams through our children, DF and I purchased not only a minivan, but also a two-screen DVD player for said van. Will these kids ever know how lucky they are? My sister and I had to pass time on family road trips playing the alphabet game and kicking each other! (I should probably note that we never took a road trip outside the state of Oregon...)
The DVD player was a big hit with the boys. With a combination of toys, snacks, DVDs, and cat naps, we manged to go 2-3 hours between rest stops. They did better than I thought they would in the car. And now I have 20 episodes of PBS kids shows embedded in my memory!
Staying in so many different places was kind of stressful. I think we might have bitten off a little more than we could chew in that regard. We probably were able to visit more people the way that we did it, so that's a plus, though I know we still missed a few folks along the way. No one we stayed with had little kids, so their houses were not baby-proof. That meant DF and I were constantly on our toes, chasing the boys around, keeping them from hurling themselves down the stairs, breaking knick-knacks, chewing on power cords...you get the idea. Even nap time held its hazards as we had to learn to move everything out of reach of little arms popping up over the sides of the pack and plays.
At home, we hardly ever take the boys out to restaurants. It's just too much work. That belief was reinforced on this trip! Our worst restaurant experience was trying to get pizza after a long day in the car. We let the kids run around outside while we waited for the food to be ready, and they did eat a little bit at the table. But as soon as they spotted a sit-in-the-car video game, they totally refused to stay still and eat anymore. Instead, they both tried to crawl up in the (adult-sized) seat simultaneously, bonking their heads on the steering wheel/joystick and causing a screaming meltdown. It was...loud and...flail-ey. I scooped them both up and whisked them out to the parking lot while DF paid the bill.
But, on the other hand, we did have some non-disastrous restaurant experiences. For example, we took them to Perkins (with 4 adults:2 children, better ratio), and the only damage they caused was dumping their water cups on the floor. Not so bad! Plus they had fun walking around the tables, waving at everyone, and pointing at cookies in the bakery display case. We also had success finding places like McDonalds and Chick-Fil-A that have kids play areas, for a nice break on driving days.
By the end of the trip, my arms were really strong from carrying kiddos! At home, I don't usually spend extended periods of time holding them. If they are fussy, we can all sit on the couch together or something. But with all the new environments, both boys really wanted to be held a lot on the trip. When Gus was sick, he was suuuuuper clingy. There was one day I pretty much held him all of his waking hours. I did bring an Ergo carrier, which I put him in so I could eat dinner. Poor kid :( He finally started feeling better when we got home. I think he's more of a home-body. The trip seemed to stress him out more than Gibson.
This is the sort of experience that I'm glad to have done. I don't mean any offense to the people we visited, because everyone was so kind and accommodating of our family's needs. And I'm glad our kids got to meet so many relatives and have new, fun experiences. But it was just a lot to manage, and I had a hard time enjoying it while it was actually happening. It's nice to be home, and we took lots of pictures!
By way of summary, here are a few facts and figures.
- Miles traveled: 2,684
- Relatives & friends visited: approx. 50
- Different places stayed: 6 houses, 1 hotel
- States visited: 6 (AR, MO, IA, SD, ND, MN)
- Trips to doctor: 1, for Gus (diagnosis: unspecified virus)
- Applesauce pouches consumed: about 4 dozen
This trip was both harder and easier than our only other previous long trip, to Oregon. Since we were driving this time, we were able to bring more of the kids' own stuff along. I think it helped them to have familiar pack-and-plays and other accessories for sleeping. We have travel booster seats for meal time, and those were handy, too.
In an attempt to live out our childhood dreams through our children, DF and I purchased not only a minivan, but also a two-screen DVD player for said van. Will these kids ever know how lucky they are? My sister and I had to pass time on family road trips playing the alphabet game and kicking each other! (I should probably note that we never took a road trip outside the state of Oregon...)
The DVD player was a big hit with the boys. With a combination of toys, snacks, DVDs, and cat naps, we manged to go 2-3 hours between rest stops. They did better than I thought they would in the car. And now I have 20 episodes of PBS kids shows embedded in my memory!
Staying in so many different places was kind of stressful. I think we might have bitten off a little more than we could chew in that regard. We probably were able to visit more people the way that we did it, so that's a plus, though I know we still missed a few folks along the way. No one we stayed with had little kids, so their houses were not baby-proof. That meant DF and I were constantly on our toes, chasing the boys around, keeping them from hurling themselves down the stairs, breaking knick-knacks, chewing on power cords...you get the idea. Even nap time held its hazards as we had to learn to move everything out of reach of little arms popping up over the sides of the pack and plays.
At home, we hardly ever take the boys out to restaurants. It's just too much work. That belief was reinforced on this trip! Our worst restaurant experience was trying to get pizza after a long day in the car. We let the kids run around outside while we waited for the food to be ready, and they did eat a little bit at the table. But as soon as they spotted a sit-in-the-car video game, they totally refused to stay still and eat anymore. Instead, they both tried to crawl up in the (adult-sized) seat simultaneously, bonking their heads on the steering wheel/joystick and causing a screaming meltdown. It was...loud and...flail-ey. I scooped them both up and whisked them out to the parking lot while DF paid the bill.
But, on the other hand, we did have some non-disastrous restaurant experiences. For example, we took them to Perkins (with 4 adults:2 children, better ratio), and the only damage they caused was dumping their water cups on the floor. Not so bad! Plus they had fun walking around the tables, waving at everyone, and pointing at cookies in the bakery display case. We also had success finding places like McDonalds and Chick-Fil-A that have kids play areas, for a nice break on driving days.
By the end of the trip, my arms were really strong from carrying kiddos! At home, I don't usually spend extended periods of time holding them. If they are fussy, we can all sit on the couch together or something. But with all the new environments, both boys really wanted to be held a lot on the trip. When Gus was sick, he was suuuuuper clingy. There was one day I pretty much held him all of his waking hours. I did bring an Ergo carrier, which I put him in so I could eat dinner. Poor kid :( He finally started feeling better when we got home. I think he's more of a home-body. The trip seemed to stress him out more than Gibson.
This is the sort of experience that I'm glad to have done. I don't mean any offense to the people we visited, because everyone was so kind and accommodating of our family's needs. And I'm glad our kids got to meet so many relatives and have new, fun experiences. But it was just a lot to manage, and I had a hard time enjoying it while it was actually happening. It's nice to be home, and we took lots of pictures!
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