Monday, March 2, 2009

Dinner Chaos

Chaos this evening. Utter chaos. The twins woke up from their naps early which may have set me up for a bad scene later. While Kyle worked at the neighbor's house, I started my first dinner (yes, first) - chili - and things were going well. The twins were pushing strollers around the house while I chopped onions and peppers and started the meat. For the second time in recent memory, I got freaked out the pork seemed off, as in freezer burned or bad or something, so I ended up dumping out the entire beginnings of my chili. I was going to resort to Amy's enchiladas but the twins were doing well enough that I opted for a breakfast supper instead so we could have a little variety. Molly got cranky so I put her in the playpen with cartoons to entertain her. Lily wouldn't stay out of the kitchen, which concerned and annoyed me. I was so distracted I jacked up the entire meal other than the bacon - my waffles weren't great, my eggs overcooked, the grits lumpy - and then the kids decided they wouldn't eat any of it. After having cooked two dinners already, I was in no mood to deal with pickiness, so they got what they got. Lily refused to eat at all, so we resorted to putting the food in her mouth for her which sent her into screaming fits. She despises eggs. Kyle was home for dinner briefly and helped clean a little, but returned to the neighbor's house while the twins got ramped up on the screaming. Claire cried at length about slipping on the floor, so at one point I had all three kids hysterically crying at the same time. It was a joy.

Needless to say, I didn't waste time getting everyone to bed. The twins were asleep by 8pm if not before, and I was out of Claire's room by 8:30. I even medicated Claire because she was up again last night, for the third night in a row, and actually scared me to death last night. I woke up to a whispered 'mom' at 1am, and when I opened my eyes Claire's face was one inch from my face and it scared the hell out of me. She complained of a stomach ache, and other than working myself into a tizzy that she had appendix issues, I couldn't shake the rude awakening and I did a lot of yelling at her. So I'm hoping the Benadryl gives us all a good night's rest.

And as soon as Claire was in bed, I started a third dinner, although for tomorrow night. I'm doing a crockpot thing, so I chopped the veggies to get that out of the way. It's a new recipe for me, a creole chicken dish, so we'll see how it turns out. The recipe reminds me of something my mom used to cook. I know this is something that none of the kids will eat, which means it'll be a hot dog night tomorrow night for the kids. But surely tonight I could have expected them to eat a breakfast supper?!

I will not be a short order cook. I will not be a short order cook. I will not be a short order cook. Eat what I cook, or go hungry. That's the rule in this house now.

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