Back to reality....almost

Well, we made it through the holidays. Actually, we made it through very well and possibly with patience to spare. I still have things that I want to do with the kids. But for now we will be happy with trying out our new Wii game tonight and calling it a successful holiday. Of course, as I type this, they are all fighting over who is going to go first.

We spent the New Year at Jeff's mom's in eastern Washington. Lots of food, Sponge Bob and parties in Emma's room. Jeff's memories of New Years with his mom is that they always revolved around a table of munchies and yummies laid out throughout the day. This normally spells chaos for our kids, especially when the yummies involve chips and cookies in and amongst the veggies and fruits. However, Jeff and I just happened to park our puzzle next to the table so we monitored it all day long, just like the parental ogres we are. What I was able to determine was that it wasn't that the kids wanted to eat all day long, it was the fact that they were constantly asking to eat all day long. "Can I have some chips?" "Can I have some more fruit?" "If I have some veggies, can I have another sweet?". Within an hour of the food being set out, I was about ready to tear my hair out and send them all to the park for the rest of the day. Looking back, they may or may not have actually had enough food to sustain them. I think we ended up being pretty strict, mostly because we were tired of the constant asking. So this begs the question; if we had just allowed them to eat as they wanted, would the table have been cleared in a matter of seconds like I feared, or would they have been able to monitor themselves after awhile, maybe with more sweets than we would normally have allowed, but nothing that would have required a stomach pump later in the day? My opinion? The chips would have been toast within minutes. The crackers would have been next. All the cookies involving chocolate would have been history before any of the adults could have grabbed any, and L would have eaten the entire cottage cheese/Jello mold single handedly.

So, when do they learn to be responsible when helping themselves to the buffet? Am I going to have to monitor their plates until I no longer am responsible for buying their groceries? I already know that half of the lunches that I send do not get eaten which spells out a HUGE waste of money, not to mention food. Grrr.

There was also a lot of park time in the snow, which after the snow, fog, freeze, rain, freeze, and sun made for a veritable science laboratory of various stages of frozen water. Lots of fun for the kids. Floki spent his part time monitoring the various yards that backed up to the park. Any yard with a dog was allotted as much of his time as it took to wear out the captive puppy by running up and down the fence line. Needless to say, he hit his bed HARD last night and was hard pressed to get up for dinner even.

Well, my curiosity is getting the best of me. I am hearing shouts of "Ollie" from the other room as they try out the new skateboarding game for the Wii. Gonna have to go take my turn.