A Walk in the Park...

These pictures are pretty angelic really.  Not really the truth of the whole experience...  Admittedly.  But I hope my children remember going to the park and pretending to fish and climb trees and chase each other rather than the panic I felt in my brain that 1) Maggie would run into the lake, 2) Gabriel would fall in the lake while pretending to fish with his fishing rod made of a tree branch, 3) The dog would meet another dog and go ballistic toppling our stroller and dragging it and its contents all through the park, 4) One of the three of them would run into the busy road only meters from where we were standing, 5) One of them would eat goose poop, 6) That the stroller would topple over (dragged by the dog chasing another dog) walking a narrow stretch between the road and the lake, Maggie would topple into lake while Gabriel would run into the road and I would be the one with my face down in goose poop unable to stop any of it from happening.  What do we call this condition?  Mama-brain-induced-catastrophization? 

When did I become such a nut-job anyway?  But, when did taking three dependent bodies out for a stroll in the city's park become such a chaotic venture.  This is what I get from reading too many books or browsing too many of those precautionary articles on facebook.  Tell me, mamas, does anyone else go a little bit freaky when taking their multiple three-and-unders and/or dogs out to new places?

Anyways...... Here are some lovely pictures from my littles at the park today who are so deeply fond of each other and who, despite my constant precautionary commands, will hopefully remember it as a wonderful (safe) time. And can we just talk about how green and beautiful the grass is getting here!  I love it!

DIY Pizzas: Toddler Style

I don't know about meals with littles in your house, but our babies were great eaters....   To start with.....  And then suddenly along the way, the list of food likes got smaller.  It's a bit of an usual list of likes for a toddler I think--olives, cream cheese, pickled beets and frozen peas, but it is a shorter list than I'd like nonetheless. And pizza of all things, is NOT on the list. 

A few weeks ago,  under the powerful influence of cousin Elsie, Gabriel took the first bite of pizza in months.  But the moment his tongue touched a red pepper, the pizza hit the plate.  I've recently come to the conclusion that part of the issue with toddlers and mixed foods is CHOICE.  And pizza seemed like the perfect place to try.

I remember reading an article about a link between young children helping to make meals and healthy food choices as young adults.  No doubt this is true.  While kids can definitely make the occasion of making supper a little chaotic, getting them in the kitchen to help out can make a difference not only on their ability as adults to prepare their own (healthy) meals, but also to enjoy the food they are eating now, not only because they helped make it but because they are able to then choose (within reason) what they want in the meal they are preparing.

Late yesterday afternoon, I started to prepare food for "making supper."  Ok, so now not only was I making supper, I was preparing to make supper and then allow two tornadoes in my kitchen while we put it altogether...  My inner latent OCD was kicking in.  But nevertheless, with everything prepped we went ahead. 

My son loved the idea of rolling out the pizza, folding cheese into the crust, painting it with sauce, and topping it with his choices, all the while, snacking on bits as we prepped.  (Hey, I don't really care too much about how the food is consumed so much as the fact that it IS consumed).  We talked about the green peppers (not a fan), and so we left them off.  Gabriel proudly put his pizza in the oven.  And when it was ready, helped cut it with the pizza cutter.  Sure enough, being a part of the pizza making made a difference.

Now, it wasn't all pretty.  There was plenty of behind-the-scenes mayhem--Maggie into the flour, the dog nearly ate Gabriel's pizza as he was walking it to the oven, and the pizza was cut in a sorts of silly ways, and it took awhile to clean up the disaster that was our kitchen.  (Apparently, my kids take after me?)  But it was worth it not to have to coax and coerce at the table the entire meal. After all, pizza nights are supposed to be fun, right?

You might also like:

• Marta's Pizza