NORTH TONAWANDA —
My family has turned into a pack of hyenas. Well, that’s what it feels like, sometimes.
We’ve become scavengers, eating as we go, rummaging through the cupboard in search of weekday meals without a lot of forethought or trouble (although sometimes we get the maniacal laughter, too, mostly when Jimmy’s making up his own jokes).
As a family with an insane and fractured schedule, it was almost inevitable, really.
I usually arrive home from work to find the boys have already eaten their evening meal. My husband and I grab what we can and eat on the go, rarely sitting down together, reliant on the wonders of Lean Cuisine and other microwave magic for our nightly sustenance.
Then, due to a few family events and visitors, the four of us actually found ourselves sitting at a table together, with real food in front of us and nothing to distract us from the meal and each other.
And it was good.
Our 5-year-old beamed at all and sundry ... and gobbled his meal with alacrity, asking for seconds and thirds (this, the child we once had to struggle with every meal). Our 2-year-old ate even his vegetables with great concentration and a marked lack of attempts at escape.
My husband and I were actually able to taste our food, not setting it aside every two seconds to attend to a child nor eating on our feet to keep from getting climbed on.
It was nice. Impractical for our lives, I thought, but nice.
Then, about a week later, I paused in the headlong flight that is our family life and realized the toddler had subsided on a cheese sandwich and goldfish crackers that evening. And had the 5-year-old eaten at all? I had to call my husband at work to find out (the answer was yes, fortunately).
This, I decided, had to stop. No matter how difficult it was, we were going to find our way back to actual sit-down family meals.
And it is difficult.
On weekdays, the window we have available for actual sit-down family time is extremely slim ... and it has to factor in both cooking time and meal time.
I’m doing a lot of prep work at night after the boys go to sleep. Last night, I cooked chicken and chopped vegetables for today’s chicken chili. My husband will preheat the oven for cornbread before I get home from work. It’s not the scratch bread I used to make back in the days when I actually had free time, but it will do.
Later in the week, the remainder of the chicken (trimmed and bagged up in the fridge, ready to go) will take a turn in the slow cooker with barbecue sauce. Microwave-steamed vegetables (those things are a godsend) and rice will round it out.
I tend to be the cook in our family, but my husband has been enlisted, too. Once a week, spaghetti will take its place on our table. It’s one of the boys’ favorite meals, so it’s hardly a hardship.
It’s more expensive to eat this way, too, I’ve found. Regular coupon-clipping and store-flier perusal will become even greater parts of our weekly routine. In the long run, I hope, it will all pay off.
In family sanity, if nothing else.
Do you have any advice — or menus — for quick weekday family meals? Favorite fast — and cheap — recipes? Let me know at the e-mail below for possible inclusion in an upcoming story.
The hyenas will thank you.
Jill Keppeler is a columnist and page designer for the Tonawanda News. She can be reached at jill.keppeler@tonawanda-news.com.
Family
Related Photos
-
new.double.trouble.jpg
Mission possible: Family meals
- Family
-
-
Family ties come in time
When it comes to genealogy, all you need to do sometimes is catch a break.
-
Imagination is a wonderful — and scary — thing
Tiger, squirrel, what's the difference when you're 2?
-
The law of conservation of energy — with kids
Watching the thundering herd pass us, the father shook his head ... and called to the children:
“How can you have so much energy when I’m so tired?”
We looked at each other and laughed, each then, perhaps, seeing our future in the tired parents. To this day, eight years later, there are still moments when we look at our kids, then each other, and repeat those words. -
Parenting can be easy to say but hard to do
The parental saying is so commonly used that it’s almost become cliché: “I would do anything for my children.”
But what they don’t tell you is that, some days, it’s harder than others to fulfill that mantra. -
Ol’ golden rule days truly are dear ... I suppose
Packing lunch boxes. Pre-arranging ever-so-cute outfits. Driving to early morning drop-offs. Selling chocolate to raise funds.
The school era in the Lane household has officially started. -
The one who’s left behind
School is back in session - but not for everyone.
-
Never too young to begin total recall of life
Most research on memory indicates that children don’t begin to permanently store information until at least age 3.
But what these researchers seemingly failed to take into account is the fact that there is no fury like a toddler girl scorned. -
My sons, the comedians
One of the most interesting things about being a parent, I’ve found, is watching fledgling senses of humor develop.
-
Who knows what lurks in the hearts of big sisters?
If Rigby has taught us nothing else, it's to always be on guard.
-
Indulge your toddler’s every fantasy at Sesame Place
We know how to get to Sesame Place.
- More Family Headlines
-
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
