Lunch Improvisation

As a stay-at-home-mom who home-schools two little ones, and who works from home, I have a lot to accomplish (as do all mother’s, whether you stay at home or work outside the home).  Some people look at me funny when I mention that as a Worship Leader, I work from home, but being a Worship Leader/Music Minister is much more than picking out a few songs to sing on Sundays.  Many people understand that (mostly musical people), many people don’t.  A lot of prayer, thought, and preparation goes into each week—not just for me personally but for my praise team and instrumentalists.  I could go on about that, but I’ll stop since that is not the focus of this post.  Back to having a lot to do:

What a joy it is for me to do all that I mentioned above, but on a day when I’m not feeling 100% physically—finding motivation to do anything is rough some times.  My neck has been bothering me today (perhaps I slept on it wrong) and I've had a migraine.  Tough today especially because we are still experiencing very low temperatures and wintry weather so we've been confined to the house other than last night’s attendance of our Children’s Choir Christmas program (which little man sang in).  Being cooped up in the house these last few weeks is beginning to show in my children.  They long to be outside running in the sun, and I with them.  We are greatly missing our long play sessions on the beautiful property on which we live.  I guess in an effort to make up for that they've been trying to run throughout the house which makes a lot of noise on hardwood floors.  So I shared all of that to say it has been an unfortunate day for me to have a migraine.

To make us feel as if we had back a little of the summer days we've been longing for and to give this Momma a break, I broke a household rule today.  We normally do not allow the kids to have food or drinks in the living room (unless it’s a spill proof cup) because let’s face it—I have enough food to clean up off the floor in the kitchen/dining room where we cook and eat without adding another room to it.  However, today for lunch we had an indoor picnic in the living room.  I laid out a blanket, brought out their Mickey Mouse tray, and even let them watch T.V. while they ate.  That alone made me the coolest Mom in the world in their eyes.  To make lunch I busted out the handy sandwich maker again.  Some days my 4-year-old little man doesn't want anything I offer him—barely eats, and then there are days like today when he is a bottomless pit that I struggle to fill.  He ate all of his grilled cheese and then told me he was still hungry so I decided to use the sandwich maker for a treat.  I used white bread, spread with peanut butter and then threw in a FEW mini M & M’s, and split the sandwich between little man and the princess.  Once they bit into the sandwiches far enough that they could see the colorful M & M’s peeking out, they were thrilled.  Again, this new concoction made me possibly the coolest Mom ever to them.  Then to balance out our peanut butter-M & M treat, I peeled several Cutie oranges.  The few months Cuties are in season are a big deal in my household.  My kids LOVE them.  They would devour a 5 lb bag in a blink if I let them.  I even have to hide them, or they will beg for them.  Guess it is a good problem to have.  :)

Little man has told me several times since we finished with our picnic, how much he enjoyed it.  It was a huge hit, and I think I won major mom points.  So I guess the moral of the story today is, when I stop being rigid with myself, and how I think I should do things…God whispers to my heart that it’s okay to bend a few household rules to make memories with my children and let them do something fun like an indoor picnic.  It definitely made lunch more interesting and it gave me quiet children, which was most helpful for my migraine.  What are some ways you get creative in the wintertime?