Thursday, January 3, 2008

a proud moment

The noisy boys choose a table while I heat up our dinner. The children’s museum is open late on Thursday nights, and while Llama Papa is away, this is a great place to hang out and play between naptime and bedtime.

I peel the cardboard off the Kid Cuisines and park myself next to the microwave while they heat up. I want to explain to the Moms near me that I really don’t give my kids a lot of frozen food. I feed them a well-balanced diet of home cooked meals on a consistent basis. Really.

Young children are scattered all over the cafeteria eating popcorn and chocolate milk for dinner, but still. I actually planned this meal. That somehow feels worse on the Bad Mother scale.

But the noisy boys are ecstatic. “Oh!” Twin B. exclaims, loud enough for the entire room to hear, “I remember these! You used to give us these ALL THE TIME!”

Yup. It was a proud moment.

**********
update on Llama Papa -- He made it to Moscow safely after two relatively uneventful flights. He has a day to recover in Moscow, then he’ll catch a plane to Tonsk. Thank you for your continued prayers!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

We were there today! I thought of you (although I am not a stalker, I promise). My almost 3 y.o. said, "There is so much kinds of fun here, Mommy!" We went after a late breakfast and snacks on the way. So our "lunch" was apple, snack mix and chocolate. I paid for that about 4:30. I'm sure you will be fine though. My kids love Kid Cuisine as a special treat when the babysitter comes. (I'm sure my babysitters are not at all impressed w/ my culinary skills) With prayers for Llama Papa, -e.

Christy said...

My youngest will eat either Kid's Cuisine or a peanut butter and honey sandwich over my home cooked meals if I get the least bit fancy. Thank God for Kid's Cuisine!

Anonymous said...

hang in there

John Deere Mom said...

I just stumbled upon your blog today after starting mine. Your blog name intrigued me. Santa brought my 4 year old a book called, "Llama, Llama, Red Pajama" and Llama Mama is repeated throughout the story. I should know...I've read it about 20 times since Christmas! :)

Llama Momma said...

Lainey -- I'd love to see a stalker with a three-year old. Now THAT would be an accomplishment!! We love the museum, and it's so fun to see baby b. really start to enjoy it! (He wants little to do with the "baby" sections...he spent most of him time doing the air ball stuff...)

Christy -- oh, honey. That's hard! I'm grateful to have good eaters; but, of course, when they don't get it often, frozen food trumps just about everything. :-)

Thank you, Nancy.

Angie -- Thanks for stopping by and welcome to the blogosphere! We love that book. And my recent favorite? "Llama Llama Mad at Mama." Fantastic.

MamaToo said...

thank you, thank you, for a much needed laugh-out-loud moment! :)
And, so good to hear the update on LP. We're praying here... :)

Llama Momma said...

Thank you, Mamatoo. Always glad to oblige. :-)

Craver Vii said...

Those kids are hilarious!

As long as he is okay with the food, I'll bet that his adrenaline will help a lot to overcome jet lag. When he comes back, he might sleep for two days, though.

Llama Momma said...

Craver -- I suspect you're right. (About the travel, not the kids. Though that's true too...they are hilarious. You should have seen the "mii" they created while I was rocking baby b. last night. They were busy making the poor guy's mole bigger when I came downstairs...)

23 degrees said...

Sounds like some great memories you are building, very fun...why worry about the menu?!

Llama Momma said...

23 -- We are having fun. I try to balance that out with a nutritious menu, but it doesn't always happen. Obviously. :-)

mommanator said...

bless you for taking them to the museum! I know lots of kids who have never seen inside a museum-who cares what the kiddos eat as long as it is somewhat nutricious-at least they have food!

Anonymous said...

A friend and I were comparing "bad mom" notes the other day, particularly related to eating. Her last email of the day to me was, "My daughter is watching Cinderella eating a bowl of ice cream for dinner. Top that."

I'm pretty sure tv dinners on occasion are absolutely acceptable.

Thanks for the update on LP. Keep us posted on how we can be praying!

chrissy said...

Stumbled upon your blog and had to comment!!
I love to cook but no longer have the time to cook like I used to! You so have me beat, because during this School Break we have ate way to much fastfood and I am so run down by it, frozen dinners actually sound good to me, I think even the kids are burnt out on drive-thru!!
Prayers, for Llama Papa, still going back in your blog to find out about his trip.

Llama Momma said...

Thanks, SP!

Chrissy -- I love to cook too, which is why it pains me to serve my children these meals. But sometimes we do what we have to do. Thanks for stopping by!

Roxanne said...

Don't be too hard on yourself in the meal department! While I was on a six-week military trip early last year, my kids survived on chicken nuggets, spaghetti-os, fish sticks, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. My husband is not a cook, and fortunately, the kids all received well-balanced meals at day care or school. They were happy with what they had, and my husband was able to survive being a "single" parent. You're doing a great job--remember that!