Cancer Research

Dear Jen,

You know how they tell  you to boil soothers before using them?

...yeah...they should tell you not to boil them while you're sitting down to feed your baby. Actually there should be a warning label on all products that new mothers might buy, telling them not to try multi-tasking EVER. I'm also pretty sure I have cancer from all the toxic fumes I inhaled while trying to bring the disaster under control. Fortunately Brad had temporarily removed the fire alarm last fall when something we were cooking kept setting it off, so we didn't notice the problem until the stench began permeating our living room--at the other end of the house.

Yup.

Oh and also I ruined a pot. I mean the plastic is mostly scraped away, but I'm just that picky, I refuse to eat food cooked in a pot with even a little bit of plastic in it.

I know--I'm crazy.

Worst part is, now I have to go out to the store again to buy soothers.

Life...

Love,

Jacqui

What's Brown and Sticky?

Dear Jen,

I don't know whether it had been established before I moved how challenging lunches are for me.

I have developed a hatred for lunches.

I'm just not interested in anything lunch-oriented, and incidentally, neither are my kids. I have three staples that I know they'll eat, none of which I really want them eating on a regular basis: hot dogs; Kraft Dinner; grilled cheese sandwiches (alright that one's not the worst. Still--not enough protein for my liking!). Above that, I have struggled to find anything that they (or I) will actually put in their mouths.

No more, Jen, NO MORE! I have discovered the answer! And, as they usually are, it was so simple. What is it, do you ask?

TOOTH PICKS.

Fun like you wouldn't believe. Evelyn has pretty much written off cheese. And today, she was crying about how she didn't want ham because she wanted hot dogs. But then, in a moment of pure inspired genius, I got out a tooth pick, stacked a cheese square, a ham roll, and a pickle slice onto it, and presented it to her. Eagerly she popped it into her mouth, and miraculously proclaimed that she liked it. Double bonus: Gavin loved them too! (although to be honest, first of all he generally just loves cheese and also ham, and above all pickles, and secondly his current favourite activity is copying everything Evelyn does)

Tooth picks are the answer, my friend. I'm just rubbing my fingers together thinking of all the things I can tooth pick! I'm thinking PB&J may be getting a new look in our house!

So excited! For the moment, I am saved from the lunch-time drudgery.

...that is until Madamoiselle Master of the Universe decrees that tooth picks are passé...