A Mom's Year

Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

Boredom-Is-Not-Allowed Activities

{Honestly, this is not as dangerous as it looks.}

On Sunday we had our first day in the 70s. The air was warm and the sun was glorious. So imagine my surprise when nine children (including my four) announced, “We’re bored.” What?!? Already? After five months of hibernation, the older boys wanted to go inside to play video games. No way, José.

I suggested a water balloon fight and went to dig out some balloons from last summer. What a happy feeling to find an unopened package of balloons. It even contained a little gizmo that attaches to the outdoor spigot to make filling the balloons easier. So the kids battled it out for a while and then relaxed on the porch with the first popsicles of the year. And they forgot all about going inside.

{Mixing “stew” on the front porch. It was a good way to use up spices that I’ve had around for years. Somehow I never seemed to use that Garam Masala. Or the Cherry Extract.}

Now that my kids are a little older, they can usually take an idea and run with it. But sometimes they need help coming up with ideas. So I’m compiling a big list of Things To Do. I’ll print the ideas, cut them out, and then put them all in a jar. Whenever a kid (or kids) can’t think of something to do, he or she can pick an idea or two out of the jar.

Here are 30 ideas to get started.

  • play with water balloons
  • play basketball
  • ride bikes
  • jump rope
  • read a book
  • write a story
  • play catch
  • play kickball
  • hula hoop
  • make a fairy house
  • weed the garden
  • throw ball to Gunther
  • do a jigsaw puzzle
  • write a letter
  • draw a picture with sidewalk chalk
  • blow bubbles
  • make homemade playdough
  • swing in the hammock
  • draw
  • color
  • write a play
  • play soccer
  • have a tea party
  • make an obstacle course
  • look at a scrapbook
  • read a story to a sibling
  • write a poem
  • memorize a poem
  • host a poetry recital
  • play the piano (or any instrument)

What are your favorite ways to keep boredom at bay?

Happy Birthday, Tim!

muddy buddy

{Tim and me at the Columbia Muddy Buddy race at Afton Alps last August. Tim’s helmet designs of the Titanic and the Iceberg won Team Sinking Feeling first prize in the costume contest. We got two awesome Columbia backpacks as prizes. And then Tim got to wear that crazy thing for six miles of biking and running up and down hills, obstacle courses, and a long crawl through mud.}

Today is Tim’s birthday. Every birthday is special, but this one is especially so because last September, during six of the longest hours of our lives, we weren’t sure if he was going to make it through the night.

Tim had been in a mountain biking accident out on a trail in our neighborhood and the doctors were trying to get a handle on the bleeding that had shown up in a CAT-scan of his brain. No one could explain why he couldn’t move his arms and legs because he hadn’t broken any bones. They were also trying to understand why he was in such excruciating pain. I remember one doctor saying that the pain Tim was feeling in his shoulders might be a distraction from head trauma. So Tim lay there for hours, both of us wondering if the pressure caused by bleeding in his brain would become too much and that would be that.

Later that night, after scans and tests and putting the pieces together, the trauma team figured out that Tim had suffered a spinal cord injury called central cord syndrome. Basically, he was born with a narrow spinal column and a very specifically-placed blow to his chin caused his spinal cord to be pinched. The bleeding in his brain turned out to be minor and resolved itself quickly. So while his spinal cord injury was horrible, at least we knew that Tim would still be Tim.

I should write about Tim’s recovery one of these days because it’s quite a story. The good news is that he has regained full range of motion and continues to heal, but as anyone who has suffered chronic pain will tell you, it takes a toll. Still, he is powering through and hopes to feel completely like himself again someday.

They say that events like this are life-changing and I believe it. It’s much harder to get worked up about the little things, I’m more protective of our time together as a family, and we have a whole new appreciation for our community of family and friends. They stepped in to take care of our children during Tim’s original 17-day hospital stay and his surgery a month later, they cooked us so many meals I didn’t have to cook for two months, and they provided love and support through messages, prayers, and snow-plowing throughout the snowiest winter I can remember. As Tim told someone one day, “Other than the accident itself, this has been a great experience.”

So here’s a wish for the very happiest of birthdays to my jaan-e-jaan. I’m glad you’re still you.

Gluten-Free Oven-Fried Frito Chicken Fingers

So. In the weeks since Will was diagnosed as wheat- and dairy-intolerant I’ve been learning as much as I can about what this means. I’m pretty cautious by nature, but when I read or hear story after story about people’s lives improving by eliminating gluten it’s hard not to sit up and pay attention. Will has many of the symptoms typical for wheat-intolerance sufferers, so I’m watching him like a hawk for improvements. I won’t go into details about his symptoms here, but if you have any questions please feel free to contact me and we can talk.

Will has been a trooper. He’s accepted this new part of his life with grace and patience. I’m transitioning the entire family to gluten-free because it’s “all for one, one for all.” Plus I have a feeling the rest of us will benefit from being (mostly) gluten-free, too. I often feel sleepy after eating bread. In fact, I slept for three days once after eating an entire loaf of homemade whole wheat cheddar bread. In one day. Maybe that was just a normal reaction to gluttony, but one wonders.

One of the reasons the transition is going so well is that I discovered a wonderful book called Cooking for Isaiah by Silvana Nardone. I had actually read a magazine article a while back that featured the book. I thought the food looked amazing—doughnuts and waffles and other goodies—but didn’t pay much attention because I didn’t think I had to. Needless to say, I bought a copy the day after Will’s visit to the doctor. Honestly, we’d eat nearly everything Silvana presents anyway, so the fact that it’s gluten- (and dairy-) free is just a happy coincidence.

If something seems “off” to you, whether it’s mood swings or eczema or brain fog, it might be worth finding out if food allergies are involved. As Hippocrates, the father of medical science, said, “Let food be your medicine.” There’s a little boy in a classroom I’ve been helping out in this week who is always acting out and seems really angry. I can’t help but wonder if food allergies or intolerances might be involved. They might not be, but it sure seems worth looking into for the little guy’s sake.

Anyway, I’m sharing this recipe from Cooking for Isaiah because it’s kid- (and Tim-friendly) and very easy to make.

Oven-Fried Frito Chicken Fingers with Honey-Mustard Dip

Ingredients:
Extra-virgin olive oil, for greasing
6 cups corn chips, such as Fritos, coarsely crushed (or tortilla chips)
Salt and pepper
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 pounds (750 g) chicken tenders
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet with olive oil. In a shallow bowl, combine the corn chips, 1-1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In another shallow bowl, beat the eggs. Coat a chicken tender with the corn chip mixture, dip into the eggs, then coat again with the corn chip mixture; place on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining chicken. Bake until golden and cooked throughout, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, honey, and lemon juice; season with about 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve with the chicken fingers.

Bunny Cookies and Cupcakes

No holiday would be complete without some ideas from Sarah and Brittany, the creative powerhouses at One Charming Party. Their Easter bunny cupcakes would be so fun and easy for kids to make for friends or for a classroom party. You can find directions and downloadable bunny ears here.

Wouldn’t you love to hand these bunny cookies out to everyone? Sarah and Brittany baked bunny-shaped cookies and frosted them in light pink. After letting the frosting dry well, they placed the cookies in cellophane bags and attached cotton ball tails with double-sided tape. For a final touch, they tied the bags up with pretty ribbons. So cute.