Taking care of toddlers who are transitioning from one to zero naps can be like taking care of a drunken roommate who needs to pass out in the hallway, grocery story, street corner... oh you get the idea. I have gone grocery shopping and left the store with two bodies fast asleep in the cart; grocery bags in the front and underneath compartments. Dylan falls asleep sitting up in every store I take him to. Dylan's nap schedule is from 1-3pm but if we go out and he falls asleep at 11:30am my day is screwed. Alex at 3yrs old rarely naps but maybe every week there is a day where at 5pm he passes out into a childlike (more like drunken-like) coma sleep. That all leads me to children all day. Too much children. Children who won't go away and take a rest. A mom who at 11pm is still struggling to get a kid asleep so she can finally watch The Bachelor. Dylan also is having middle of the night "freak-outs" where he wants to be held. Just held. And the milk?! He chants for it. I make it. He never drinks it, but holds his bottle so tight. He needs closeness and Mommy's comfort. He's 20 months and is now going through this phase? Sure, I comfort my child. Sure, I love waking up to be Mommy. But, there isn't a Daddy home more than two nights a week and sleeping through the bight is super necessary for everyone. So, after Dylan's time in the middle of the night Alex, my 3rd old, starts the shouting out from nightmares of monsters and robots. I'm starting to have monsters and robot nightmares too because dude.... there are no monsters, robots, or anything scarier than me without sleep that anyone needs to worry about. Before I know it Alex calms down, needs milk (usually finishing his brothers already made bottle), has to go potty, and I fight myself not to read or check Facebook but to go back to bed even though I am wide awake most days at 4-5am. My days with my kids seem never ending. And I'm not asking for a vacation, a few hours alone, even to shower alone... but nap time and/ or early bedtime is quite sacred to me. 7am-11pm straight through the says are long shifts to pull. And while I am pulling them I often don't sit down and watch a show with them while they rest if not nap. While I am pulling these crazy long days I do laundry, tidy up, cook, and do all the Mommy things I can so that I can pass out with my kids and ensure hours of sleep.
The advise I got when having children that was the most valuable was all about how easy raising babies is.... besides eating and sleeping. The rest is a breeze. It's so true and it's an always changing always rearranging challenge. The boys always go through food phases. Alex right now is driving me nuts with that he doesn't eat "red or green things." This somehow out of the blue includes tomato sauce. The kid somehow got turned off. He was raised on Italian cuisine and its delicious. So... we are working on this. And Dylan isn't eating much lately. He was the biggest eater ever, but now he only picks. He picks on strawberries, avocado, raisins, tomatoes, and hash brown potato patties the most. That's actually pretty much all he'll eat. I'm working on eating his diet to loose weight. I'm sure that'll do it! But check these meatloaf cupcakes out! They are so yummy and you can hide anything in them! These are turkey and quina meatloaf cupcakes with mashed potato icing!!! You can't not LOVE them!!!
1 package ground turkey (or meatloaf mix)
1 onion chopped
3 pieces moistened bread (I use what I have- wheat or multigrain)
2 eggs
Dash of milk
Squirt of ketchup
Package onion soup mix
Mashed potatoes
Break up bread into small pieces. Mix. If too watery add a piece of bread. If very dry add an egg. Put into greased muffin tins. Cook on 350 35 minutes. Take out and spoon mashed potatoes on top to look like icing. Put back in oven to heat 10-20 more minutes depends if potatoes were cold or warm.
*Broil for a few min to brown tops if you want to.
*If making it with quina like I have use a cup of premade quina and add an extra egg.
