Heh. Except for those of us hovering on the brink.

Annie's Shells taste much better than Kraft, at least to an adult palate. They're also less full of chemical glop.

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Annie's Shells taste much better than Kraft, at least to an adult palate.

Word, and they even have an orange kind now (I love annato).

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I remember my s-i-l swearing by Annie's. I have yet to try it. Christopher has serious love for Kraft. I limit it like crazy, because of all the non-foodstuffs in there. I will have to check out Annie's.

Word, and they even have an orange kind now (I love annato).

You're very cute.

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You never know when inspiration will strike. Did you find the cat?

It was amusing. I've been chasing this electronic gremlin for a while now.

The cat was sleeping on the couch. She came back to bed.

And then crawled up on top of me once the alarm went off like the furry snooze enabler that she is... So I've mostly been up since 4:30 but I still had to rush to get to work on time.

This weekend was far too brief. Or far too busy. But yesterday I went on a mini-Cooper rally with my dad and 170+ other minis through the mountains and then to a speed festival thing where there was vintage racing. We had the top down the entire time so the hat, sunglasses and major sunscreen weren't enough to keep me from some sun and wind burn. But damn... So much fun.

So, apparently, the e-mail did the trick. Now to start to try to catch up in the class...

Excellent, bug! I am so continually proud of you.

Arrgh, and a production meeting in ten minutes. So much for my leisurely morning plan.

My dad made me eat scrambled eggs he'd run through the blender once. I am in continual amazement that I can still eat them. Oh sure, technically he had a good reason but because of the stupid meeting, I can't tell you about it right now.

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I like Annie's. I also have made some homemade stuff that's easy and not to bad. I'm just crazy for putting stuff like peas or tomatoes in my mac & cheese so we'll see how the kid deals.

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Put that stuff in early, and he'll think that's how it is supposed to, Cashmere. That's my theory. My kids are decent eaters. Both Ben and Chris have particular picks. Dh is is extremely picky, so they come by it naturally. My rule of thumb is I give the kids one spooonful of everything I've cooked, and they need to try it, each time, because tastes change. I mostly try to cook things they like, though, because of Scott's pickiness. If any of my children had a true aversion like ita's egg aversion, I wouldn't press it. Ben comes close to an aversion with salad, but it doesn't actually sicken him, he just really doesn't like it. When we have a salad, you would laugh at the one inch piece of lettuce I put in the bowl.

eta...

When I say I mostly try to cook things they like, I do not mean I custom cook, though. My meal choices are generally limited to healthy stuff the family will eat without fuss. But everyone gets the same menu.

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Me and my sister completely changed tastes from the time we were kids. She was a ridiculously picky baby. At one stage all she'd eat was orange juice and pork chops, whereas I'd eat anything. We were the kind of family who weren't allowed to leave the table until a certain amount of our dinners had been eaten though, and at least three times a week it was spicy, spicy food. Then when we hit our teens, I got really picky and she hasn't stopped eating for a good ten years now. And I'm not big on really spicy foods, but she'll put chilli on anything and everything.

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Annie's even makes a microwaveable mac & cheese that comes in single-serving packs, for people like me who are (1) lazy and (2) would eat a whole pot of mac & cheese if not faced with portion control.

Most mothers I know have/develop a sixth sense about illness, particularly in their children. Maybe it harkens back to a more primative age, when we were more in tune with our other senses. My mother swears she could always smell a fever on me. I thought she was nuts, until I realized I could smell a fever on my own kids. Similarly, they smell "wrong" to me, when they first get home from school, but after they're home and hour or so, they smell "right" again. I can tell from the droop of their eyes if they have an ear infection, with nearly 100% accuracy.

My mom's phrase, when detecting illness in her children, was "You don't look right around the eyes." She was always correct, too -- we were sick.

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I read recently that your tastebuds change thoughout childhood so bitter things really DO taste more bitter, etc. It explains kids so often hating broccoli and adults losing much of the taste for candy.

Any kid I'm with I explain that to, "This is science. Your mouth changes. Every time you're served something you should take at least one bite to see if you like it now." They always do. One of them likes broccoli stems now (though not the 'trees').

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And I LOVE Kraft Dinner to this day. Annie's tastes like grown-ups trying to get something over on me.

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