Mashed... Potatoes? Really?

Alyssa: "Mommy, what's that?"

I'm scooping out pureed cauliflower from my Magic Bullet. "It's cauliflower, honey. It's for my smoothies."

A: "Oh. I wish I could have a taste."

I gave her a bit on the tip of the spatula, which she gingerly took on her tongue.

A: "Mommy did you put some of that in our mashed potatoes?"

Arrrgh... busted!!! Geez, what now. I suppose I could lie....

Me: "Hmmm... I guess I could have done that. Do you want me to next time?"

A: "No thanks!"

Alrighty then (tell me how you really feel ;-)

Will I add more to the next batch of mashed potatoes? Absolutely! She ate them all this time, so we're good to go for next time. (My real triumph in this case is the fact that I put some in hubby's potatoes, and he ate them too!)

Deceptively Delicious

Adding pureed veggies to kids food is not a new concept, but what I like about Jessica Seinfeld's approach is the way she has incorporated it into her weekly routine.

She sets aside one night a week to steam and puree veggies, and then stores them in her fridge for the week, using them as she needs them. This method never occurred to me; ideally the fresher the puree the more nutritious, but puree that's been in the fridge a couple of days is better than none. Frankly, steaming and pureeing with every meal was too much for me (call me a wimp - I don't mind ;-)

I struggle with my two kids (although my daughter has recently decided she likes broccoli - I'm still waiting for "the catch" on that one). I have in the past added things like wheat germ to porridge and pancakes, but was running short of ideas. Then I saw the Oprah episode that featured Jessica Seinfeld and her approach to infusing nutrients into food that kids will actually eat, and I am newly inspired to try again with my own.

Wish me luck... lol!!

I Can't Even Remember What The Fight Was About...

Alyssa (5 1/2): "You're the worst brother EVER!!!"

Joseph (4): "You da worst bruvver ever TOO!!!"

Alyssa: "Arrrgh. I'm a GIRL! I can't be the worst brother!!! I'm the worst SISTER!! Say it!! Worst SISTER ever!!!"

I thought it was funny anyway.

Full Day Kindergarten

I think I'm in favour of this... The government is considering making Kindergarten full days, and introducing Pre-school to the current curriculum.

What it comes down to is that in today's economy, two wages earners are necessary for most families, and daycare is sorely underfunded. What surprises me is that they would consider increasing the school curriculum rather than increasing daycare funding (I'm surprised simply because it's a solution that I actually agree with!)

There are people out there who say: "Let kids be kids!! Why start them in school even earlier?"

I wonder if those people have children currently in Preschool or Kindergarten. Frankly, my kids have as much fun, if not more, in Kindergarten and Preschool as they do at home. With all the new friends, crafts, games, field trips, play time, singing, classroom pets, recess and gym time that they enjoy at school, it's hard to imagine them NOT wanting to be there.

Currently, studies show that one quarter of kids who enter Kindergarten are not developmentally ready (WOW). Clearly Daycare is not bridging this developmental gap in a society where both parents are too busy earning wages to put food on the table to be prepping their kids for school.

Then there is the theory (supported by studies) that early intervention prevents social problems later on, making the cost of a lengthened school curriculum economically beneficial.

With all of this in mind, it's hard to imagine why anyone would be resistant to a lengthened school curriculum which includes preschool and full day Kindergarten. It will be interesting to see if it is actually put into practice.

Trampoline Warning

If you're looking for another "trampolines can be dangerous" story, read on.

Fortunately it wasn't that serious. During our son's backyard birthday barbeque, one of our friends' daughters pulled the ligaments in her ankle. She was jumping on the trampoline with a larger child (he's probably twice her weight), and she landed awkwardly because of the movement of the jumping surface. Had she been jumping with someone her size it probably wouldn't have happened.

A point to consider is that she's about 35 pounds, and the trampoline has a weight capacity of 200 pounds. As a result she wasn't big enough to generate much instability by herself, and had she been jumping with another preschooler, they probably would have been OK. However for the older child, given his weight and ability to move the canvas, my opinion is that jumping alone would have been only safe option.

Up until now our rule has been three kids or fewer on the trampoline, but from this point forward, we're going to reduce that as necessary, based on the weight of each jumper.