The Apple Sauce War

I have three kids. The youngest is now 4 and well on his way to being one of the most determined and stubborn people ever. He takes after me. If I can shape and mold this into a positive thing he will be one of the most successful men ever.

But in the meantime we are in the midst of the apple sauce war. It's like this... the youngest loves, loves, loves applesauce to the point of turning into apple sauce if he eats anymore.

So the other day we go to school with his lunch packed with his milk, peanut butter sandwich and the old reliable apple sauce. Get there and realize...no school. "Okay, how about we go out to eat to do something different?" He says, "Okay!"

We get there and order. He wants apple juice. Fine. We get our food and sit down. Eating out is a really, really big thing when you are 4! So I eat my meal and watch little boy barely eat anything. Fine, we can just take it home. We have to stop by the grocery store on the way home to get ginger ale and some saltine crackers for our family that is under the weather. He's the best shopping buddy ever. Very helpful and talking lots and lots.

Finally back home he decides he is hungry.

Me, "Good thing we brought home your meal and we also have your packed lunch."

Little dude, "I want apple sauce!!!" Hmmmm, "no you need to eat some protein and try to get something else in your system."

This starts what I call the apple sauce wail.

"APPPPPPPLLLLLLLEEEEEE SSSAAAAUUUUUCEEEE!!!"

Oh boy.

"Apppppppppppllllllleeeee SSSSAAAAUUUUUCCCEEEE!!!"

Me, "If you are going to scream you can just go to your room and scream because you are not going to stand here and continue to yell at me."

So, he runs like a bat outta hell down the hall yelling, "AAAAPPPPPLLLLLLEEEE SSSAAAUUUCCCEEE!!" over and over and over again.

Great.

For the next 20-30 minutes this is all my husband and I hear at different volume levels, different harmonies, moans and groans and basic crazy noise.

Finally something different comes out of little boys mouth while trying to turn his bedroom doorknob. "Unlock the door!!!" "UNLOCK THE DOOORRRR!!!!"

Me, "It's not locked!!!"

"OH!"

And down the hall comes my little dude all red-eyed, red-faced, tears streaming with shoulders slumped and arms out stretched.

He hugs me and says in his normal voice, "Apple sauce."

I say nothing and just hug him. He somehow ends up in the kitchen and chooses to eat his meal he brought home from the restaurant and then the sandwich and milk in his lunch box.

I then go in and give him his precious apple sauce.

There is nothing more stubborn than your mom kiddo and I just got you to do what I wanted even though you decided to scream your head off for a half an hour.  Eventually he'll figure it out and get tired of the drama. That's nothing new to me. I have two others just like you who did the same exact thing over other crazy things at the age of 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and now 10.

Love my kids!

A Scarf Just for Me

You know it isn't often I make something just for me. In fact, I hardly ever do. Are you that way too? Do you put everything and everyone else in front of you? Sometimes it just goes along with responsibility and that is fine, but then there are times you can do something just for you and you still don't.

So I have had this yarn for a long time. Saved it back just for me because I love the texture and color. My daughter picked it out for me a couple years back for my birthday. It's a reddish magenta colored boucle by Louisa Harding Yarns made from mohair (60%), viscose (25%) and polyamide (15%). Lovely stuff!!! It has specks of various colors running through it.

Life is busy and life gets in the way of a lot of things we want to do as adults. But honestly it is a choice isn't it? I choose to put things off for me. I don't think I want to do that much anymore.

It's kind of like losing weight for me. I want to, but I have to make the choice to do it. I can say, "I had a bad day and eat a really bad meal" or I can say...."I had a bad day, but I am going to eat something healthy for me because my body, mind and soul deserve to be fed well." I am losing weight slowly and hit a milestone lately, which has boosted my good choices. Some days I remember to eat healthy and work out for the right reasons. Then some days I completely forget and fall back into my old habits. Not on purpose at all...just happens. It's like I go on auto pilot and just do what I know instead of doing what I know would be better. But I am going forward and putting my health ahead of other things that can wait.

So, I will knit this gorgeous scarf for me now because I want to. Because I think it's high time to take time to do something a little extra for me. Other things can wait for the moment. No need to wait any longer because I am worth it!