Oatmeal update and other musings

First, I would like to say that crockpot oatmeal is simply NASTY.

Correction… this particular recipe I tried was nasty.

The result was a thick, oatmeal-flavored cream. I added extra oatmeal to the mush to give it some sort of… something… that the kids could actually chew.

If okra were a breakfast food, this would be it.

To be fair, my oldest son Sean actually ate two bowls of it. He didn’t seem to mind it at all; however, it wasn’t something I would ever want to make again.

I think I’ll just make myself get up a half hour earlier to make real oatmeal next time.

If you’re looking for a good make-it-the-night-before breakfast recipe, I highly recommend the granola recipe on the back of the Quaker Oats box. I cut out the white sugar completely, use less brown sugar than called for, add a couple of handfuls of wheat germ, and then throw in some chocolate chips instead of dried fruit (for some reason, my kids just don’t like dried fruit! I can’t figure it out…)

We also do “sausage” and egg biscuits (the “sausage” being the TVP frozen patties. Real sausage freaks me out and makes me feel nauseous…), stove toast, broiled bagels with turkey and provolone, when it can’t be helped… cereal.

OTHER MUSINGS:

I can’t believe it. My husband does NOT like Frosty Joes from Jittery Joes coffee shop! It is a heavenly, frozen concoction that makes my heart dance… and he is over there at his desk, making faces and saying it’s simply cold coffee!

Oh dear… as my mother says, “his taste is all in his mouth.”

And in the
BAD MOMMY CATEGORY:

I blew it so badly this evening. sigh.

I was already frustrated that the kids were not going to sleep as quickly as they should — someone needed water, someone else needed to go to the bathroom AGAIN, etc.

You know the drill.

After dealing with many requests and questions, I had had enough. As I was in the boys’ room, I heard Reilly yelling something to me. Now, I had already dealt with her several times since bedtime, so I was in no mood for yet another request (she’s not feeling well this evening).

Did I check and see what she needed?

Ah, that would have been the proper thing to do… however, that’s not my nature. I make snap judgments and run with them. So I went to her door and proceeded to tell her in a rather frustrated voice that she needed to quit calling me with requests and just go to sleep.

Instead, I heard this quiet little voice say, “Mommy… I was just telling you that I love you and I’m so glad you’re my Mommy…”

Crash. tinkle… tinkle… tinkle… [that’s the sound of the illusions of my Mommy greatness crashing to the floor]

Needless to say, I climbed up into her bunkbed, gave her a big hug and an even bigger apology…

… and a much humbler Mommy left her room. sigh.