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Don’t Eat My Snack, Okay?

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One of the joys of having a daycare running out of my house, is that I get to learn about how truly different kids can be. What is funny to one, could be horrifying to the next. Never has this been more evident than when I attempted to play a little gag on the group at a recent snack time.

We’ve all seen the game played before; “Hey, look over there!”, as I reach over and pretend to eat one of the kid’s snacks. Everyone erupts with laughter and encourages me to do it again to a different child. In my mind, the kids know I have no intention on actually eating their snack. In their minds, however, I am a snack eating monster who will stop at nothing to get my hands on those sweet, sweet apple slices.

That day, the game ended innocently enough. We had all had a good laugh and the kids finished their unstolen snacks with smiles, knowing that they had defeated the angry snack monster. At least, that’s what I thought had happened that day; until snack time came around the next day, that is. I had completely forgotten the game and was catching up on the day’s news, when I heard a voice from across the room say,

“Chris, don’t eat my snack, okay?!“

Oh yeah, the snack game! Thinking this plea was an invitation to steal some yogurt, I made my way over to the table and treated the children to my deepest “Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum” giant voice. The only problem was that upon arrival at my destination, I could see in this child’s face that his statement was no joke. The poor little guy was petrified at the thought of me coming over to steal his hard earned yogurty reward and I felt terrible.

This was just one of the many, many lessons I am learning about the different personalities of children. Just as my son won’t watch Tangled because of Rapunzel’s scary mother, this little boy did not like the thought of a snack monster coming to trick him out of his loot. They all have their quirks and that’s what makes them all so unique and amazing. Needless to say, it’s been a month since the incident and the snack monster hasn’t made any more appearances. Still, every snack time since the incident, I am reminded of the joke gone wrong as I hear,

“Chris, don’t eat my snack, okay?“

Don’t worry buddy, the snack monster has retired.

Cheers!

Wanna Tell You About The Girl I Love – To My Wife On Mothers Day

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Yes I know, if you know the lyrics I’ve quoted in the title, they are not really about “True Love”. Let’s try and get past that because that specific lyric, on it’s own, happens to fit quite nicely.

I would also like to state for the record, that I love my Mother and wish her a very Happy Mothers’ Day! This post happens to be about someone else on this particular day though.

For as long as I’ve been a father, there’s been one constant that has kept me in my children’s good graces.

One thing that has kept me from imploding due to the sheer magnitude of being in charge of another life form.

Well I guess it’s not really a thing at all, is it? Here she is!

This is my rock! My Knight in Shining Armor! The Keeper of the Gates of my Childrens’ Love and Well Being!

Too far?? Not in my mind.

For all the great comments I get on my site about how great I am as a father, there is someone else who is even more deserving of that praise and who doesn’t get enough of it.

My wife gave up her career because she wanted to stay home to raise our kids, which was a huge sacrifice. Please don’t take this as me judging people that don’t because I understand and respect all people’s situations and decisions.

Point is, she decided to quit her comfortable job and enter the world of home child care. It’s probably one of the hardest jobs I could ever imagine doing. As a shift worker, I am home a lot with the daycare and trust me when I tell you that it is not all bonbons and circle time.

 

 

 

 

 

Lesson planning, meal plans, activities, outdoor time, walking some to school, picking them up, consoling upset children and trying to spend enough time with your own to make them feel special for having to share all their stuff. I’m sure I’m missing some things but you get the idea.

She is an amazing woman!

Remember this post about my son’s 4th Birthday Party? I looked great as the cool Dad dressed up like Super Mario, right? What you didn’t see in there was the planning, invites, decorating, loot bags & food that my wife took care of while I was in the bathroom rehearsing my Super Mario lines.

When the kids are ill, the world stops for her until they are feeling better. When my daughter can’t sleep, my wife will happily lie in bed with her and comfort her until she dozes off. And absolutely No holiday goes without decorations and a celebration!

My wife is the perfect portrait of someone who loves her family over and above everything else in her life. She would literally do anything for us and for that we are eternally grateful! She gives us the best of everything she’s got and asks for nothing in return.

Even when I told her that, for Mothers’ Day, we were sending her to a nice hotel to relax and get some much needed rest, she needed to be convinced that it was a good idea. I’m still not sure she agrees with it but I know she’ll love it!

I know there’s so much more I could say about her but she’s away relaxing and Daddy’s got kids to entertain, LOL!

Let me just close by saying to my wife, from myself and the kids, that we appreciate everything you do for us.

We hope that you don’t think we take you for granted, because we don’t.

Life would be a dark, lonely place without you in it and we want to say a great big, bear hug wrapped, chocolate covered Thank You for everything you bring to our family!

On a personal note, I am thankful to have found you. You make me want to be a better father every single day and you have no idea how you positively impact our lives.

We Love You!

Happy Mothers Day!!!

PS – Enjoy your time of rest and relaxation, the daycare opens back up at 7am sharp on Monday morning ;P

PPS – Where’s the Ketchup?

My Son Hates Food…

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They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I’m not about to write a 1,000 word post, not because I can’t, but because I’m lazy.

The picture above is the beautiful lunch time creation my amazing wife put together for her daycare’s Easter lunch. You’ll notice it looks like one of those Sesame Street skits of “One of these things is not like the other”.

3 perfect Peanut Butter and Fruit Bunnies and one ugly, no makeup, no face Bunny with 2 carrots that it can’t eat because it doesn’t have a mouth.

The empty rabbit is a special lunch modification for my son, who will not touch anything that isn’t a plain piece of bread. Sure he dabbles in carrots, apples and even broccoli if the mood is right but you are essentially looking at his daily feeding.

Before you start the “hide the food in something else” bit, trust me, we’ve tried it. I swear he’s going to become a surgeon someday based on the way he disects every type of food we try to give him, looking for colours that don’t belong.

I sometimes wonder where I went wrong with him in the food department. Daddy loves food. Daddy eats waaayyyy too much of it too. It couldn’t be me! He couldn’t have gotten into my Paint collection, right? Even if he did, this photo wouldn’t scare a child off carrots, would it?

Yeah I know, I’m a monster who draws ridiculously disturbing pictures. We all have our vices. Let’s move on.

He doesn’t even like cake or ice cream or gummy worms!!! The only thing he will eat in the junk department is donuts and thank the lord for that.

Don’t worry, we supplement his diet with vitamins (hidden liquid only because he won’t take a pill or eat a gummy or Flinstone vitamin). We’ve talked to the doctor about it and they said to keep trying new ways to get him to eat his fruits and veggies, so we will.

Some tricks have worked for a few days. The old “I’m gonna eat your food” schtick was good for a couple meals. Then there’s classics like “I’m gonna beat you” or “Apples make you faster and stronger”. Nothing sticks though.

There is some hope though! Recently in a play group circle time, my son was asked what his favorite food was. He responded quickly with this wonderful lie: Apples.

That’s my boy!

Have you ever had problems getting your kids to eat their food? Feel free to share your secrets with me so I can steal them and forget to thank you!

Cheers!