Dirty Laundry Blog by Jennifer Hynes

“More, more, more” Jack says to me with an empty container  in his hand, the one that had pirates booty in it the day before. 

“Are you hungry?” 

“More” he says, now starting to cry. 

I put him in his chair, give him cheerios to tide him over while I make quesadillas. 

Swipe, the cheerios are all over the floor, Jacks having a melt down because he doesn’t get his pirates booty.

“I’m not buying that again. No more cookies either”

I make the lunch, first giving him watermelon, then quesadilla, sugar snap peas, pumpkin seeds, he eats like a beast. 

Fiona eats well too. 

Yesterday morning,

“Mama, maaaaama, maaaaaaama”

It’s 5 AM, Jacks crying. I try to let him go back to sleep, but he’s wailing louder and louder. 

“It’s ok baby” 

I bring him upstairs, change his diaper, Fiona’s still sleeping, My coffee and toast are ready. I give Jack his bottle, thinking we can have breakfast together peacefully. 

“Bubble guppies, bubble guppies” crying.

“No you’re not watching bubble guppies right now”

Meltdown, he’s crying now. 

“Jack, I’ll read you a book”

I bring my breakfast to the living room, Jacks bottle, get some books, after a few more minutes of whining, Jack sits next to me, starts drinking his bottle as I read him books. He’s delighted and has forgotten all about bubble guppies. 

I made some homemade turkey soup last night, the exact way I know Jack and Fiona like it. The broth full of minerals from the vegetables and turkey bones, just what they need this time of the year. 

Dinner time, they don’t eat much. Both start saying and signing “cookie”

“No way, I guess you’re done”

I put them down to play with Alan. After awhile Alan and I have a bowl of soup. I put the babies back in their   chairs.  I warm up their soup. They eat a little, but when I start eating mine, they point, ” that” so I give them a carrot, then a piece of potato, then I let them drink the broth out of my bowl. They love it. They eat more sugar snap peas, toast, watermelon, and pomegranate. They eat a lot and never mention cookie again. 

This takes a lot of work and a lot of time and patience. I noticed I was giving them too many quick fixes, to save me time and not have to deal with the annoying whining. But I realized they need to be taught  to eat right. And it isn’t a simple lesson. It’s complex, it’s really time consuming. But it’s really important. 

In fact I think nutrition and learning how to eat healthy is probably one of the most important things I can teach Jack and Fiona. 

They are both awake now. Time to do it all over again!