Survivor Skills: Foraging

It's funny how when baby #3 arrived, I think I understood that I would be in survival mode much more frequently. But I have been surprised at how often Cat and Jack have had to be in survival mode too.


Case in point: a few weeks ago I was occupied feeding a certain adorable 6-month old some very delicious peas for breakfast. (Yes, breakfast. I know.) Jack was hungry too, but I knew it would be better for me to get the baby taken care of and then focus on Jack, so I continued feeding Eliza. Next thing I knew, Jack was eating breakfast: a chocolate chip cookie he grabbed off of the counter. And a minute later, he had a cucumber in one hand (also off of the counter) and another cookie in the other. A pretty well-balanced meal, if you ask me!

Last year, I decided Cat needed to learn how to make her own lunch. I knew it would be a learning process for both of us, but I started off with this checklist, which has been on our refrigerator door ever since:
It's worked pretty well. Last year, I frequently helped Cat put her lunch together in the mornings, hurriedly. This year she's done pretty well with making her lunches after school for the following day. Sometimes I help her, sometimes I don't. And on the days when I don't help her, sometimes I check what she packed, and sometimes I don't. The other day I looked in her lunch box and noticed that she didn't exactly follow the checklist. Her lunch consisted of a peanut butter sandwich, a pack of crackers & cheese, 6 Ritz crackers, 2 pieces of sliced cheese, and juice box. Hmm. It might be time for another discussion about what it means to eat balanced meals. And maybe I need to re-stock our supply of ready-to-go fruits & veggies...