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| Grilled cheese sandwich cut into bite-sized pieces, served with blanched and peeled tomato, sliced avocado and bananas. / Korea Times photo by Jane Han |
By Jane Han
These days, when I'm not thinking about what to cook, I'm thinking about what to order for take-out. And when I'm not thinking about getting take-out, I'm thinking about what to order for delivery.
So yes, you get the drift ― my mind is all about food.
I'm usually not like this, but when you have two picky toddlers and a pregnant woman who's always hungry in the same house, food becomes a major issue. A major issue.
Friends used to tell me that life becomes easier when your little one graduates from purees and porridges. Totally not true for me.
Now that my 13-month-old twins are eating three full-fledged meals ― rice, two to three vegetable and protein side dishes and soup ― along with two snacks a day, feeding has become a much more serious business. They're completely off formula now, so what I put on their tiny little tray is their single most important source of nutrients.
Ah, the pressure.
At first, I went all-out ambitious. I'd be in the kitchen with my award-winning book of toddler meal recipes that my children are guaranteed to love and easily spend over an hour cooking three to four different dishes ― for each meal. So that's more than three hours in the kitchen a day.
In a perfect world, my kids would happily chomp down and neatly empty their plates in no time. And if this were the case, I'd be more than happy to cook away all day.
But in the real world, things don't work out quite this way.
Earlier today for lunch, I made stir-fry with beef and cabbages, Korean-style seasoned eggplant, grilled tofu and clam seaweed soup. By the end of the mealtime ― or more like, by the time my patience ran out ― most of the food ended up splattered all over the floor.
My girls, they're very straightforward. They really make sure to tell mom when they don't like something.
The other day, Baby B decided that it would be fun to take out the spaghetti I put in her mouth and smudge it across her tray. It was a big tomato mess. So as a punishment, I moved her highchair against the wall so she can "reflect.''
Boy did I regret doing that.
When I looked back at her a few seconds later, she was already using the white wall as her new canvas. Tomato sauce all over. I about went crazy.
It's been almost a month since the girls have transitioned into their new meal pattern and, so far, there's one thing I learned ― ambition can hurt both mom and baby.
When I spend too many hours and energy preparing a meal, I expect my children to enjoy and finish their food. But when they do their typical toddler thing, such as stick out their tongue to block the spoon from entering their mouth or spit food back out, I get completely stressed and the inner Cruella de Vil comes out again.
It's a vicious cycle and mealtimes become very, let's say, dramatic.
So after a month of experimenting with dozens of bland, low-sodium dishes and a good number of stress-induced meltdowns, I figured cooking once or maximum twice a day is ideal and putting out last night's leftover dinner for today's lunch is acceptable after all.
As moms, we need to find a point of compromise. That's the only way to live a sustainable life.
One other thing, having a super quick, super easy go-to menu that your kids always love is a lifesaver for those days when you do not want to lift a finger.
Thank goodness I found one already _ grilled cheese sandwich. They love it every time. Gooey cheddar cheese pressed in between two pieces of toasty bread, who doesn't love that?
Feels weird to be saying that I'm serving my daughters grilled cheese sandwich when it really seems like yesterday when they were bottle-feeding. I still have leftover formula containers randomly stacked up in my kitchen.
They grow up too fast.
Moving onto a new phase of parenting is never easy, but as it is with everything, there is always an upside. I'm so busy with the twins and their meal planning that I've let go of my pregnancy food craving.
Actually, I lied. I let go of some of it, not all.
What's the fun of pregnancy if you can't enjoy guiltless gorging?
So tomorrow will be yet another day of cooking, feeding and eating for me and my twin toddlers. Tonight, I'll fall asleep thinking and Googling high-resolution photos of my biggest food cravings. Yummy.
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