2013 USDA Cost of Groceries

I promise not to beat this egg anymore after today, but Deborah Stein was kind enough to send the most up-to-date version of the link I posted yesterday.

Here's the new link, and you can also click the photo below to enlarge it and see what the gov't has to say about meal-preparation costs in 2013:
 

According to this, every one of you who commented on my original groceries post is doing really well keeping costs in check -- even as we all try to prepare healthful, tasty, relatively interesting meals for our families.

We should all be proud of ourselves! Keep up the good work, folks!

(The "thrifty" plan AKA the "eat a bunch of crap or starve" plan is still disgustingly low to me, but that's a rant for another day.)

Aaaaaaand, now I'm hungry! Who's up for second-breakfast?

Clean your plate! Or not?

OK, I swear Lester and I do more than just read NYT parenting articles and discuss them.

(Mostly, we say "Holy &#$!" a lot while watching Damages. And wait for the last season of Breaking Bad to come on. And eat too many snacks - though we're trying to do better about that. But I digress.)

But anyway, this particular blog post about why parents should nix the "Clean Your Plate Club" really got me to thinking.

I agree with this writer's sentiment wholeheartedly. I really, really do. But I admit I have a problem. I don't want to be the "eat one bite more"-Mom, but I am and I don't know how to stop it.

Hello, My name is Tanika Davis and I force my children to eat Swiss chard.

Here are a couple reasons why:

1. I use myself as a barometer, which is wrong I know. I HATE the feeling of being hungry overnight. It has nothing to do with my upbringing - we had plenty of food, believe me. It's just one of those things about my physical make-up. It can wake me up out of a deep sleep if I haven't eaten enough at dinner. So I worry that if the kids don't eat enough, they'll be hungry overnight. I don't worry so much about them waking up - they're great sleepers. I just worry that they'll have that *feeling* - and as a Mom, you never want your children to feel uncomfortable. You certainly don't want them feeling HUNGER. Lord, that's the worst.

2. Especially where Dean is concerned, I know that he doesn't stop eating because he's no longer hungry. He stops eating, then he says he wants yogurt, or fruit or a gummy vitamin. Sometimes, he hasn't even touched the food on his dinner plate, but gets down from the table, and then says, "I'm still hungry!" because he wants yogurt or fruit. I know that yogurt and fruit are healthy snacks, but I feel like the 3-year-old doesn't get to decide what's for dinner.  I feel like he should understand that dinner is dinner, and when he's finished dinner - or at least had some of it - he can have what he really wants.

The alternative is we either 1) Let him decide what he is or isn't going to eat for dinner, which we all know will mean Cary will want to pick and choose what he wants, too, and so we'll descend into a free-for-all, you-pick-whatever-you-want-and-Mommy-will-serve it buffet going on or 2) Tell him he doesn't have to eat dinner, but he can't have yogurt or fruit either, which means he will have eaten nothing between the hours of 6 p.m. and 7:30 a.m.

See reason No. 1 for why this kills me!

3. I'm not there for so much of the day. At breakfast they eat oatmeal. At snack, they eat a lot of fruit and cheese and yogurt and crackers (unless they're in summer camp, where they get chocolate pudding for snack. ugh!) When I'm there with them at dinner, I want to witness them eating ONE DARN VEGETABLE.  JUST ONE! IS THAT SO WRONG?!

How do you all handle this issue? Seriously, I'd really love to hear.

Update on C and D

Here's the latest on my sweeties.

Dunh-dunh-dunh-DUNH! DEAN FINALLY HAS TEETH!

His two top teeth came in (pretty much at the same time) this week! Yay! Unlike with Cary's big rabbit teeth, you still can't really see Dean's unless he's laughing or grinning really wide, but they're there. Clear as day.

So now the tooth count in our house is:
Cary = 4
Dean = 2

Yay! My child will not be toothless for life (as was my fear).

Dean also took a few tentative steps today!!! It was more of a shuffle than actual steps, but he propelled himself an inch or two forward while upright, so I say that counts! Walking cannot be too far away now, folks. Ack!

The boys have a new push toy my sister gave me that used to belong to their cousin Russy. It's hysterical because it's also a ride-on toy, so one can ride while the other pushes. They find this INFINITELY enjoyable. And I love watching them play together. It makes me feel all warm inside.

Speaking of my sister, she took this video of Dean and Cary dancing at my mom's house the other day and it is sooooo funny. Please check out these two dancing machines! Especially Dean and his "slow groove." LOL!




I have started giving the boys spoons at dinner, to start getting them used to utensils. Even though I know we're a long way off from them actually using the utensils, I'm told it's good to start getting them acquainted with the idea.

Cary enjoys when I help him scoop a little food up on the spoon and then steer the spoon in his mouth. He finds this hysterical. Dean, on the other hand, will not let me touch his spoon, his hands or his food (which he throws on the floor). It is soooo frustrating! The only way I can get him to eat is to "hide" real food inside a scoop of yogurt. But this is not teaching him to eat his dinner -- and it's giving in to his desire for sweets, which I didn't want to do. But oh well -- what's the alternative?

Cary and Dean are now able to follow simple instructions, such as "Hand Mommy the shoe," or "Find your book," or "Lie down." This is awesome, as this clearly means we are not far from being able to say, "Go downstairs and get yourself some cereal so Mommy and Daddy can sleep in."

Can't wait!