Toaster Oven Grilled Cheese

From the time I was visibly pregnant with Kaden friends, family and total strangers have always said to me….”enjoy it while they are little, the time goes by fast”. Always I would acknowledge them with a smile and a nod of my head and in my mind I knew what they were saying was right but that’s kind of one of those things you just can understand until you’ve experienced it. I don’t want to brag or anything…but I think I’m a fast learner. Here we sit in the middle of February, just one month away from Kaden’s first birthday and it feels like just yesterday that I was pregnant. With the exception of a 2 night get away, I’ve been present every single day of Kaden’s life and I still can’t believe how fast he has grown and changed.

As we approach the one year milestone, I am not only amazed at Kaden’s development, but am already reflecting at some of the silly ideas I had about the type of parent I would be. For all the reading and best laid plans, I’m already learning that the experts don’t know my son, all I can do is the best that I can and it’s not a bad thing to take advantage of modern advancements.

One of my anxieties as a parent (and yes, like plastic spoons and sippy cups I generally carry a few with me at all times) is that Kaden get the proper nutrition and learn to eat a balanced diet. For all the splendid efforts of my mom, I’m not exactly the poster child for the food pyramid. While most parents are relieved when their kids start eating meals with the family, I was sent in to a panic. How will I make sure that Kaden always has good food and something from the proper food groups for every meal? Should I buy organic? Is frozen as good as fresh? The answer to all those questions….who knows; just do the best you can. To illustrate my point I present Exhibit A; dinner. As Daddy, who usually cooks dinner in our house, was walking out the door the anxiety set in. Single Mom, one rowdy dog, 2 cats and a helpless little toddler in need of nourishment….why oh why didn’t I spend my Sunday preparing nourishing meals? Mommy’s solution….toaster oven grilled cheese, green beans and a banana. I doubt it’s going to win me any awards…but in our house sometimes toaster oven grilled cheese is the answer.

Let’s move on to another fun one. Exibit B; the portable DVD player. Now I’m pretty sure along the way either in my head or out loud I’ve said something to the effect of “kids watch too much tv” or “I want Kaden to learn to entertain himself and enjoy the scenery”. It didn’t take more than a couple of slightly painful temper tantrums during long trips for us to change our mind. And from having spent some time in the back seat now myself, I can honestly say there really isn’t much going on back there. We are now the proud owners of a dual screen portable DVD player for the car. We haven’t road tested it yet. We will be taking it for its maiden voyage to Savannah for a visit to the VanLefler’s in about a week…so I’ll let you know how that turns out.

Let’s be honest here, it’s not like I generally spend my weekends preparing nutritious meals anyway…but on this particular weekend I had a good excuse. It was Super Bowl Sunday and our favorite team The Pittsburgh Steelers were headed to the big game. Our house was buzzing with excitement as we pulled out the proper attire and prepared some of our favorite game day snacks to take with us to the Kaler’s. We would spend the day with the Kaler’s and then return home in time to watch the game from the comforts of our living room. The weather was perfect and the day went off without a hitch.

We are all well aware that we didn’t win that game. When the opposing team converts 3 or more turnovers to touchdowns, a big fat loss is generally the outcome. Now if you know Lance, you know that he lives and breathes Black and Gold. Under normal circumstances the outcome of that game would have put him in a foul mood for days to come. However, it is impossible to be upset at anything in the world, when your sweet baby boy is running around the room laughing his head off. I don’t know if it was the energy of the Super Bowl or if it was the effect of spending the day with the Kaler boys, but on this particular night Kaden was full of energy and loving life. He was showing off his mad walking skills by traveling at record speed around the living room and between Mommy and Daddy. His forward projection was only stopped by the occasional “grab and tickle” session which just doubled the amount of laughter. Even Kiesel got in on the action as he and Kaden rolled around on the floor. Sure the Steeler’s just gave the Packer’s a touchdown....but sweet Baby Bug is holding on to your leg, smiling up at you with his favorite book in hand. A requested reading of Quack and Piddle trumps anything playing on television.

And that’s how it goes around our house these days. We eat toaster oven grilled cheese and it’s no big deal to have the sports highlight of the season interrupted by laughter and books about baby Duck’s. I’m sure the list of exhibits where I’ve contradicted myself could already reach the middle of the alphabet. But as the popular saying goes….it’s all good! Our son is happy and healthy and even the occasional rough days always have moments of laughter.