I always excelled in math class, and I loved phonetics. Recipes are my friends. And even at 28 weeks pregnant with twins, I was the one leading the crib assembly.
I like things in black and white, and I’m good at following directions.
I’m a big fan of the Babywise sleep training methodology. I followed it to a tee, and – knock on wood! (yes, I still knock on wood, even though the girls started sleeping through the night at three months old…) – our girls are great sleepers.
One of the guiding Babywise principles is the “sleep, eat, wake” cycle. A baby sleeps, then eats, then has awake time. And ne’er the twain shall get mixed up, at least not if I could help it.
Since the girls have always been very scheduled, I could plan to have their meals ready for them as soon as they woke up in the mornings, and then after their morning- and afternoon naps. Save for a short cuddle period in their room to start the day, there was no “awake time” without some sustenance first.
When I transitioned the girls to one nap last week, though, I realized something had to give. With no morning nap, there was no “sleep” during which to prepare their lunch. Nope, their “awake time” stretches from breakfast through lunch. And they get up in the afternoons well before suppertime.
And you can guess this just threw me -- and them (but mostly me) -- for a loop.
With the exception of breakfast and their afternoon snack after their nap, I have to prepare their meals with them awake. This preparation doesn’t take long…because I cook almost everything ahead of time, I’m usually just warming up some veggies and dicing some fresh fruit...but nonetheless, our girls are being forced to face one of life's hard truths, and so early on, at that…
There's no such thing as the Kitchen Fairy.
Nope, a quick peek behind the curtain reveals it’s Mommy who lovingly prepares each and every meal.
I actually think it’s a good thing the girls see that food doesn’t just magically appear on the kitchen table, that avocados aren’t “born” peeled and diced into neat little cubes.
And as I become comfortable with this new methodology, I might even be able to apply it to breakfast…to cuddle with them in their room, and then to allow them to play for a few minutes while I cook their eggs and oatmeal instead of having everything prepared in advance of their descent downstairs...
…and that might just allow Mommy a few more minutes to savor her coffee in the still of the morning, before the day swings into gear…which makes me think it’s OK to bid the Kitchen Fairy farewell.
Ticker
