Tuesday, September 16, 2008

being appreciated...

i know its our sinful nature that causes the need to feel appreciated. it really boils down to being selfish and needing the glory...and lately i've been struggling with this 'need' to be appreciated for what i do. all in relation to my boys....and what's weird, is its mainly in the area of food. i LOVE to cook. love love love to host things and cook for people. baking is ok, and i enjoy that....but i love to cook simple dishes that seem amazing. i'm pretty sure that's why God gave me all boys, because i will really enjoy their teenage years when they want to eat all the time, and i'll be the popular mom who makes the best food, and everyone wants to come to our house!!! isn't that horrible that its a dream of mine? selfish, i know. but for now....i'm stuck in the age of pickiness and texture issues...and everything needs to be separate or they won't eat it. our biggest struggle with the both boys is dinner time. if its not pizza or chicken nuggets, we have to fight them every night to eat! (the days of ian eating anything and everything are long gone) some days i just throw my hands up and let andy deal with it, cuz there is some level of hurt and feeling rejected when my boys won't eat a great meal! i don't really know why, well, it has to do with my love language, but i know they are toddlers and i know for sure they will appreciate me some day. anyway...that's all background and venting...
this morning, i decided we'd stay home and i'd make a big breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon... its the boys favorite breakfast.... surprisingly, even ian loves scrambled eggs! so, we're sitting there, and about 3 bites into it... logan looked up and said, "mom, this sure is a great breakfast you made"... and i about broke down in tears just feeling so loved because they actually liked what i made them! so of course, i had to take a picture of this monumental moment.
so...this is "brownie"....ian has developed quite an attachment to this little puppy. he has started taking him everywhere, and he says "its my baby".... and he treats him like he's real. he feeds him, changes his diapers, burps him (and makes a burping noise for him), puts him in bed for naps, lets him ride on his shoulders...even makes cooing noises and baby talks to him. its really amusing...and so sweet. this morning brownie was eating breakfast with us at the table. ian will get the bumbo seat out so he can eat with us...

last weekend my niece, aubren, spent the night with us. it was her first time away from both parents at one time, but she did awesome! she got to join in on Bible story time...that night it was the story about the blind man being healed...when Jesus spit in the mud and then put it on the man's eyes to heal him....well, andy is super interactive, so of course, he made all the kids pretend to spit in mud and wipe each other's eyes to help them understand the story.... and yestarday trey and stacy told us that aubren has been getting in trouble the past few days for spitting on the floor....hmmm...i wonder where that came from? :):) o, the sweet applications of innocent children...:)

7 comments:

Molly said...

I know the feeling! I made homeade mac n cheese one night thinking it would be the best dinner ever for her - she wouldn't even try it! I threw myself a slight pity party inside.

You are a great cook & make them wonderful meals!! They will love them before you know it!! I'm just glad we're not the only ones who have dinnertime drama.

Wonderful Woods said...

I'm glad someone else's kids have the same taste buds as my son's. If it's not pizza, chicken nuggets, pancakes or cheese crackers - don't even put it on the plate. And if you do put it on the plate he cries until he can dump it on yours.

Mrs. Valente said...

I SO relate to this! Unfortunately, my husband has kid tastebuds too sometimes!;) I love having adult company over. Finally, someone to rave over the food! LOL

Perez Family said...

You are not alone believe me. :)
Going on 4 yrs now with Elijah that dinner has been a struggle. It isn't every night though, usually once a week. I can finally say though that now he is used to it and knows that the sooner he eats his dinner the sooner he gets up. If I didn't enforce this, my kids would skip dinner every night and only eat bfast & lunch.

Kacy said...

Food is a tough issue for everyone. We even have a whole section of class in my major about eating and kids. Just keep loving them and praying for them and eventually they will eat. Just make them try it all at least once, that's a trick I heard work.

carleigh said...

so sorry things are so hard! you may not want any advice, but if they don't eat it, i put it in the fridge, and when they get hungry enough, they'll ask for it. they don't get anything else until they do! love you, and can't wait to see you again!

Unknown said...

thanks for your heart wrench honesty on being appreciated! this is something that I know I deal with as well.