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Browsing Tag: dinnertime
Disclosure: This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #WellYesMoment #CollectiveBias
I often joke about being the meanest mommy ever. You know those times when your kid refuses a totally reasonable request, like putting their toys away so they can leave school to go home or leaving the park after being there for an entire morning, and so you have to do the mean mommy act and put your foot down? Well, I’ve started to look more carefully at some of those requests and sometimes even saying yes. And you know what? These Moments of Yes are making our life so much smoother and more fun.
Obviously I can’t say yes to everything. That would mean we’d only go to work and school half of the time, every dinner would be applesauce and french fries and Grandma and Grandpa would be living at our house 24/7. But there are so many things I can say yes to.
(Like letting her ride “trikey” in the house. That is a fight that I have since given up trying to have. The tires are free and she rides in circles while I get things done. It works for us.)
On the first day of school this year, I had a super cute, matching outfit all picked out for Mac. And then she woke up that morning and decided she wanted to pick her own outfit and that it wasn’t anywhere close to the one I wanted her to wear. Instead of starting the school year off with a fight, I decided to have a Moment of Yes and let her wear what she wanted. (I mean, she looks cute no matter what, right?)
Not only did this help us have a good morning, but it set off a new standard for school this year where, now that Mac is in the big kid room, she can make more decisions for herself. And letting toddlers and kids make their own choices is so important. So I started looking for more Moments of Yes.
Recently, we decided to have soup for dinner. Great, except we all wanted different kinds of soup. So I said a Moment of Yes to Well Yes!® Soup. Usually I would make us all just eat the same soup to make things easy on Andrew and I, but with this line of soups, how could I say no to individual requests? Not only is there something for everyone, but these soups are full of nutritious and delicious ingredients.
I’ve posted before about how we eat as a family of both vegetarians and meat eaters, Well I was able to find something for everyone with these soups. Andrew loves a good Chicken Noodle soup, so his choice was obvious. Mac loves tomato soup, so imagine how happy I was to find Tomato Carrot Bisque. Her favorite soup now has an even more delicious twist with the addition of healthy carrots. And for me? It was almost hard to choose because there were so many vegetarian and vegan options. But I settled on the Sweet Potato Corn Chowder. I’ll admit, corn chowder isn’t usually my first choice. But this was absolutely delicious!
And you know what? After saying yes to Well Yes! Soups, we had a lovely and fun family dinner taste testing all of the different soups. And as a mom, I could feel good knowing I was feeding my family a soup with non-gmo ingredients, no artificial colors or flavors, and nutritious ingredients. So I encourage everyone to have a Moment of Yes with Well Yes! Soup.
I’m so glad I was given the opportunity by Collective Bias to share my love of these soups with the world. There are so many other varieties that my soup loving family will be trying out. I’m also excited to share two more things about these soups. First of all, there is a great coupon that you can use to try out these Well Yes! Soups. I mean, I think this soup is definitely worth full price, but who doesn’t like to save a little money?
The second thing is that Well Yes! is currently hosting a sweepstakes with a $500 VISA gift card as a grand prize! Make sure you have a Moment of Yes and enter. That grand prize could mean you are saying yes to even bigger Moments of Yes! Say a vacation? Or maybe a staycation?
#WellYesMoment #Sweepstakes (10/14 to 11/17)
Tell me about some Moments of Yes in your life. Maybe an impromptu outing or a movie on a school night? Maybe it was as simple as a second scoop of ice cream or an extra 5 minutes of cuddles? Let me know what you’ve said yes to in the comments!
One of the best things Andrew and I have done as parents is decide to make dinnertime a special time. Listen to how we survive, eat together, and even manage to have a fun dinnertime.
Other Posts about Dinnertime:
Baby Led Weaning: Not As Scary As It Sounds
Making Dinnertime Less Stressful for Everyone
What to Do When Your Toddler is a Picky Eater
Eating Together When You Don’t Eat the Same Thing
As a vegetarian married to a meat-eating husband, I get asked the same question a lot
“How in the world do you guys make dinner?”
I think most people totally over think it. They think of dinners like meatloaf or pork chops and wonder what in the world we do. So I thought I would write a little about how an herbivore and a carnivore dine together in peace. Make sure you read about how we make dinnertime less stressful. You should also take a listen to our podcast about how we survive and enjoy family dinner.
(Also, for those wondering, Mac is allowed to make her own choices in this area because we don’t make food a fight. She is offered some of everything and decides for herself what she wants to eat. But right now she is a picky eater, so we are just happy when she eats anything. Read about how we are dealing with picky eating.)
All toddlers go through picky eating phases. Sometimes they are short-lived, but other times they can seem to last forever. How do I know? Well, besides having worked with toddlers for 4 years, I’m also living with an extremely stubborn, picky eating toddler right this minute. But I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve that I’m using to deal with Mac’s picky phase because I don’t want to make food a fight.
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After the two weeks I had off for holiday break, I forgot how little time we actually have after work until Mac goes to bed. We get home, rush dinner onto the table, attempt to have some family time and then scoot off to bed. So how do you make those precious few hours together less stressful? Make sure you also listen to our podcast about surviving dinner time.
Well I have come up with a few ways we have found really make our weeknights less stressful. (And P.S. do not make food a fight!)
Feeding your toddler can be really frustrating. Despite the great start I gave Mac by doing baby led weaning, she is now the pickiest eater ever. Avocados were the first food she ate and were her hands down favorite for months and months. Now, I can’t even get her to try them. The other day, she wouldn’t even eat takeout pasta that Andrew brought home for a special meal. She took two, small bites and then pushed her plate away and said
“I like sauce”
which means applesauce. We tried harder to encourage her to eat this special meal, but each time she pushed the plate away and declared
“I like sauce”
until finally we just gave in. While we had the special treat meal, she had a peanut butter sandwich and applesauce. But we are willing to deal with that so that food doesn’t become a power struggle. It is so important that you do not make food a fight with your toddler. Read on and I’ll tell you our mealtime rule with Mac. (If you want some more tips on dinner as a family, check out my post on making dinnertime less stressful, even with kids.)
