Joys of working from home

[ChelseaB]

Just a fun post, not directly related to daycare

My DH works night shift, and I get him up in the afternoons when he has to go pick up his kids (my step kids). Because our evenings have been so hectic and he has been having to go in even earlier while I work late with the daycare, I have been relying on quick meals. Also, he specifically requested brown beans and cornbread this week, so I got the beans cooking in the crock pot.

He was pleased to see them when he walked into the kitchen, and then made the offhanded remark of, "so what are the kids going to eat?" All I could do was look at him and respond, "umm beans and cornbread and potatoes like us....?" He then commented about making the kids hot dogs or something because they wouldn't like beans. And then saying that it's not fair to let them starve....

Seriously, DH?! They've never even had them, they can try them! Plus, we are not raising them to have multiple meals cooked to accommodate each person. They can eat what everyone else is having. I refuse to spoil. I always make sure to include something that everyone likes, no one is going to starve. The food is right there in front of them, they will eat if they're hungry.

Agh. I love working From home, and the kids enjoy our activities. I also love that I can mostly control when I work. But dang, he drives me crazy with some comments. Lol. Blended families are a LOT of work!

[Baby Beluga]

Good for you for making one meal. My kids all love beans!

My worst days are when DH works from home. I enjoy it becasue we get face to face time (when he goes to the office DD and I see DH maybe 15 minutes per day) but he tends to meddle when he works from home and get frustrated easily. DD and I are just used to our routine without him

It's a love/hate relationship for sure.

[mommyneedsadayoff]

Yummy! Beans and cornbread are one of my and my children's favorites! Just add some BBQ ribs and I will eat till explode! Sometimes they just don't get it and after 15 years with my hubby, I have learned that just saying it like it is works best. "No one ever starved with a plate full of beans and bread in front of them!" Laugh it off and leave it at that. He KNOWS you handle the kids and he may just be giving his opinion, but unless he is planning to cook them up something else, the they are just words...and he knows that! Hence the reason he didn't start making them up some hot dogs and told you that you should do it. Just words or a passing comment, but don't hesitate to let him know that unless he plans to be there to make them whatver their heart desires, he will eat his beans and enjoy them like the rest of you!

[Thriftylady]

Blended families are a lot of work. DH and I have been married 15 years, and he adopted my kids 9 years or so ago and it is still hard!

As far as the beans, I agree with you. My two DCG's are picky and one wouldn't even touch her goulash tonight because she saw beans in it and "doesn't like anything with beans". She took her one required taste and didn't taste another bite. She will probably be hungry, but I am not making something else just because there were a few beans in it.

[ChelseaB]

Lol thanks you all! it's great to hear encouragement and like-minded opinions!

I think the biggest battle is that the kids' mother tends to assume the kids don't like foods or she doesn't like something, so she tells them certain dishes are yucky. Then they reflect those opinions without ever having tried it in the first place!

I am picky and was even more so growing up, and I hated it. I wish I would have received more encouragement to eat good things growing up, so my goal is to positively encourage trying new things! Plus, I don't have a dishwasher, so I am NOT washing anymore dishes than I have to

[littletots]

Oh, that goes for all of us. We all tend to influence / model what our children should or shouldn't like. Its totally not only a "step" thing. My dh & I are absolutely different in music, out going-ness. Hopefully, our blend will show our children it's OK to like different. I'm from Texas. I grew up on red beans & rice, cornbread, fried okra.

[Annalee]

My 12 year old is a picky eater as well but this summer he went to a week-long camp and I would drive over to check on him every evening (about 30 minutes away). The meals were furnished and guess what? Every evening he would be in the cafeteria EATING! I would not have believed it if I had not seen it through my own eyes. He even told me about eating biscuit and gravy for breakfast (he never eats my gravy biscuit)I come to the conclusion then "if he is hungry he will eat". NO MORE SPECIAL TREATMENT AT MEAL TIME FOR HIM::

[mamamanda]

Good for you on making one meal! I understand the stresses of dh being home. I love mine dearly, but he tries to dictate when he's here. Latest things are I'm not "allowed" to give the kids playdoh or let them use markers b/c they made a horrid mess with them a month ago. Ummm...I respect his opinions greatly but telling a kid they can never again use playdoh is a bit extreme to me. Especially when you're punishing the whole group. So we compromise and I take my playdoh outside where the mess just washes away in the grass.

[Ariana]

I am not even a blended family and meal times are so stressful in my house. I am a Vegan, my DH looooves meat and my kids would eat chicken fingers 24/7 if I allowed it. Meal planning is like trying to solve an algorithm that would defy the space time continuum.

[Hunni Bee]

My DD could live off beans and rice if I let her. In fact, that's what we had for dinner last night and she ate til I started feeling bad about my parenting

She stopped eating vegetables at the beginning of the year...I never stopped serving them however. Guess who's filling her belly with tomatoes, carrots, cabbage and mushrooms again?

I think all of this "kid friendly food" is where we went wrong as far as obesity, juvenile diabetes etc and it breeds picky eating. Kids like good wholesome food too...it doesn't have to come in a lunchable container.

[ChelseaB]

My DD could live off beans and rice if I let her. In fact, that's what we had for dinner last night and she ate til I started feeling bad about my parenting

She stopped eating vegetables at the beginning of the year...I never stopped serving them however. Guess who's filling her belly with tomatoes, carrots, cabbage and mushrooms again?

I think all of this "kid friendly food" is where we went wrong as far as obesity, juvenile diabetes etc and it breeds picky eating. Kids like good wholesome food too...it doesn't have to come in a lunchable container.

Exactly, Hunni Bee, I agree! I am certainly no saint, and I am guilty of not always cooking the most nutritious meals for whatever reason. However, I do strictly believe that if children are always provided the healthy stuff, they will most likely grow up to enjoy it. It's my job to provide and encourage. If I always make an effort to serve fruits and veggies with every meal, they will learn to enjoy them. Snacks and cakes and candies are a treat to be enjoyed occasionally. Not as a reward or in place of a meal! Drives me crazy when parents cave and shove junk food under their children's noses just because they refused to eat their dinner, and they're afraid their snowflake will starve.

My stepdaughter will be 4 in December. She weighs 50 POUNDS! She is obese for her age and heighth. But whenever her mother drops her off with Starburst and donuts and Hershey kisses for BREAKFAST, I know why. Of course, I immediately confiscate that stuff and serve some yogurt with fruit and granola or eggs or whatever. But it drives me INSANE. This child will eat healthier food. But she knows her mother will give her whatever she wants, so she plays her hand to get it.