Footloose

I just watched the last 30 minutes of Footloose - one of my all-time favorite movies when I was a kid. I wanted my life to be just like that movie. I guess I still kind of do. Homebaked pies, dresses with too many ruffles and every ounce of everyone's energy is spent on a dance where they hang tinfoil stars from the ceiling and drop glitter. In the end, the parents stand in a green field in the dark, listening to the distant music, wondering at their children growing, the world changing, and hang on to eachother like it was the first day.

Food of Life

I just realized something: I love feeding my children. Ok, may sound a little boring, and it's not in the feed your kid til they are 300 pounds kind of way.

My boys now sit together at a little table in the livingroom to eat breakfast and often lunch and dinner. They pull out the table and set up the chairs. They come to the kitchen and pick their favorite placemat - right now they have apples and oranges. Cai is always orange, Choco mixes it up. They take spoons and cups and napkins for me and then wait patiently for their meals. This morning it was cereal with milk. They have bowls with straws built in to avoid the inevitable drink the leftover milk spillage. Choco has recently mastered the cereal-lean as we call it. He now only loses about half of his milk and cereal to the table, floor and his lap. Anyway, after cereal they decided they really wanted eggs. And as I just checked on them after their first bites of scrambled eggs I realized how much pleasure it gives me to feed them, and feed them well. When I asked how the eggs were, in unison, in their sweet little voiced they called "Good!" This must be so boring to read, oh well, if it is go read something else.

On the same subject, last week a computer tech was here fixing my wireless connection on my desktop after a stinky virus effed it up. He was Chinese-American and fairly reserved until he was leaving and noticed the kids having dinner. "Healthy?!" he said in a surprised and complimentary way. "I don't see that anywhere it seems. Good to see children eating healthy." It was the best compliments I have received in a long time. The formerly reserved tech now chatted away about our children and how we don't tolerate junk food in our houses. (Ok, I didn't reveal that outside of the house it's a free-for-all for us:) But it really made me feel good. I take pride in feeding my children healthy food. I take pride in teaching them their bodies are valuable and to be cared for. On the flip side, I also love indulging them when we are out. Because what is life without treats and surprises?