Current Reads

With the return of cold weather (waaa!!!) I pulled out the book I had started reading (on the advice of Ted's preschool teacher) a few weeks ago. This book is really helpful. It helps explain what is 'normal' for boys (playing killing, for example) and what is a warning sign (being cruel to animals, for example). One thing I've really learned from this book is the importance of talking with boys about what they, or others, are FEELING. An example from the book involves a mother and child at a park. They see another child crying. If her child is a boy, the mother would probably respond to her child's curiosity by saying something like, "Don't stare. That's rude." (basically, teaching the boy to ignore others in distress.) If that same mother had a daughter, she might say, "She sure looks sad. Do you think she fell? What do you think happened?" Now, I don't think I would be as quick to dismiss my boys' questions as the book suggests, but I can see the point. We do (I do) tend to encourage our girls to empathize with others and our boys to be tough. I admit, if someone picks on Ted (hasn't happened yet, but I know it will someday) I will, in some secret place, want him to punch the other kid, not cry about it. (Of course, I would want Mae to defend herself too, I suppose.) Anyway, it's a good read and I'm learning a lot. And I'm relieved that constantly playing "good guy killing bad guy" is normal. Phew.

Read #2 arrived today. This book is really cool. Although it isn't vegetarian and relies on a lot of milk and cheese, I think I can use quite a few of her ideas. The breakfast and dessert ideas are excellent and will be the easiest to try out on my non-meat, non-dairy family. Mae and Sam still eat Mac 'n Cheese (you can see the sneakiness in this recipe HERE on her website) so next time they request it they'll be getting some sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower and zucchini without knowing it! Bwa ha ha! There are different pancake/waffle ideas that really load up on the spinach and blueberries too (masked with cocoa). I'll let you know how it goes!

Oh, and someone asked how the sleeping together was going this time around (our 3rd try in a year). FABULOUSLY!!! Not without incidents, mind you, but it's 8:30pm now and they're asleep. Not bad. Not bad at all. Sam hasn't had a single nightmare since Ted moved in and I'm sure Ted appreciates having a real mattress to sleep on. Needless to say, Paul and I really enjoy being able to talk aloud in our own bedroom! Ah, the sweet snores of success.