Finding Joy in Chaos

“Welcome to OUR home. We love kids, animals, plants and even you. Just come on in!”

Five-year old Daniel is leaping off the fourth stair wearing his black cape, a purple Batman sweatshirt and his 'Mountie' hat. Three-year old Rebecca carries a huge, old purse stuffed with cut pieces of paper and fake money and she is trailing behind seven-year old Grace who is gathering stuff to make a scrapbook. Mary is in the same living room playing "Magic School Bus" on the computer and Claire is upstairs changing her clothes again. Joseph and Mark are building a Lego plane across the hall in the family room but eighteen year old Matt is the brains behind the construction.Alison is on the phone and Jean is listening to music that is way too loud while leaning over the upstairs railing and complaining about life. Michael is tending the animals.

WHAT AM I DOING?

Why I am putting in the fourth load of laundry that day and planning a folding marathon where I sort laundry and literally toss each kid their own clothes to fold

 Guess what?

I learned to be happy in the chaos. I don't have a living room , I have work and play areas. A table in the living room is covered in a 1,000 piece puzzle and the coffee table is Katie's craft station. There are goldfish on my too small counter, a huge dog trips anyone walking through the door and the cat thinks she owns the most comfortable chair in the house and I warn you, do not try to move the queen! My kitchen walls, fridge and cupboards are decorated with all kinds of art and scribble art and I have too many indoor plants.

 

One day my father-in-law tripped over our dog (who did not move, by the way) and he gruffly asked me,

"What is that dog doing in the house? He should live outside."

I laughed and said,

"Welcome to OUR home. We love kids, animals, plants and even you. Just come on in!"

I Have Been Published

  I Have Been Published!                                             

 If  I can't brag to otherbloggers  about these little surprises, who can I brag to?

• Pro-life Blogs published two articles

              Why Did You Have So Many Kids?

http://www.prolifeblogs.com/articles/archives/2012/11/why_did_you_hav.php

             Nurturing Your Baby Before Birth

 http://www.prolifeblogs.com/articles/archives/2012/11/nurturing_your_1.php

• Article Chosen for Big Click Award on Catholic Bloggers Network

Readings and Reflections Category- Unless you Become Like Little Children

http://www.catholicbloggersnetwork.com/2012/11/big-clicks-awards-for-catholic-bloggers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CatholicBloggersNetwork+%28Catholic+Bloggers+Network%29

• Foundation of Life Published poem called Transformed

http://www.foundationlife.net/life-poetry/by-melanie-jean-juneau/

Also posted Why did you have So Many Kids? 

http://www.foundationlife.net/2012/why-did-you-have-so-many-kids/

• Pewsitter.com also posted Why Did You Have So Many Kids?

http://www.pewsitter.com/show/newssearch/result/1/time_ot/desc/0/

• 94 articles published on BrooWaHa 22,230 reads since Sept.10

http://www.broowaha.com/author/motherofnine9    

• Invited to write for BC Staff Blogs

Two articles so far Blogging Opens The Door To Writing

http://blog.blogcatalog.com/2012/blogging-opens-the-door-to-writin/

• BlogHer's  NaBloPoMo comments on 2nd last post- You should consider journalism

When Nursing is a Vocation Not Just A job

http://www.blogher.com/elaine-plummer-rn-nursing-vocation-not-just-job

http://www.blogher.com/nablopomo-golden-key-writer-s-soul Na BloPoMo: The Key To This Writer's Soul

To the Four-Year-Old Gagging on Overcooked Brussel sprouts

 Vegetables are good for you right?

The Canadian Food Guide tells us to eat a huge amount of fruit and veggies, something like 5-10 servings a day.

 Tell that to the four year old gagging on overcooked Brussels sprouts.

At least we're not in the 1950's anymore; I remember sitting at the table and trying to shudder down cooked carrots.

 Now we know how to stir fry veggies so they are still crunchy but hot and the sauces they make now!!! The bought sauces often have too much sugar and salt but a little dab can entice reluctant taste buds.

Another secret is to grate cheese on hot food. It will make any vegetable palatable to even the most picky eater. Even thirty years ago we put peanut butter on celery with raisins and called it ants on a log and cut up raw vegetables to dip in salad dressing.

It was my adult children who demonstrated how to grate carrot or zucchini into everything from cake, soup to spaghetti sauce with no one being the wiser; any meal can be served on hot but crunchy bean sprouts or spinach. It's actually fun to create new ways to sneak extra vegetables into other meals.

 There are two facts that kept me sane in my early years as a little kid's chef

1. Something new has to be offered at least three times before it is trusted by cautious eaters. (My rule is that you must try at least a nibble.)

2. When toddlers are offered a whole table of different healthy food, they will instinctively eat a balanced diet. Now it might be 11 bananas on one day and mainly milk the next but after thirty day,  it will be a perfectly balanced diet! So relax moms; just exercise a few tricks without resorting to pressure tactics and add a huge dollop of humour.

 Oh I almost forgot. Kids love to grow their own vegetables, pick and wash them and eat them right outside. Freshly picked carrots taste like candy and even toddlers will walk over to pull a carrot for a snack.

Important mantra to repeat in the midst of a raging battle,

"THIS TOO WILL PASS!!!"

Actually, don't bother fighting; little people just dig in their heels. Get them to taste a nibble SMOTHERED IN DIP and then let them eat a healthy alternative. Food digests better when everyone is calm. Beside, kids do have more sensitive taste bus than we do.

I STILL remember those overcooked Lima beans that great aunt Maisie forced my sister and I to eat BEFORE we were allowed a sip of milk!!! That was almost 50 years ago!