Woke up this morning-- and faced the day, tired with little sleep.
Beau spent a lot of time late yesterday afternoon and before bedtime talking to the boys about being a spear fisherman and what that was like to catch fish in the ocean... It ended our day very peacefully leading the boys into a great Sunday night slumber.
It also set me up for tonight's supper really well-- wild caught tuna and salmon with sweet potatoes.
I have for about the past year been working on a meal plan that works for our family. The subject of the meal never changes but the recipe will. For example along with our daily rhythm pursuit, I always know what we are having for dinner-- it never changes but the recipes do. It's never boring and I have found that it builds well into our family culture. Drawing the boys to the table for what I believe is teaching them to be nutritionally thoughtful people.
They also love the expectation of it, Sunday's are pancake nights, and it has become really special to every one. We've been having "pancake Sunday" for close to year now and it is now very celebrated in our home.
Here is our weekly Dinner time meal plan:
Mondays- A Protein and visible veggies
Tuesday- Tacos
Wednesday- Pasta inspired
Thursday- Leftovers
Friday- homemade pizza party night
Saturday- Greek crockpot
Sunday- PANCAKE SUNDAY!
So it's really simple and within the category there is so much freedom. If any of you have ever eaten at our table you know that I am catering to a vegan gluten free eater, a major meat eater, and toddlers who well like what they like;)
I would say that our table ebbs and flows from Paleo meat principles to naturally gluten free grains as well as heavy coconut flours and almond flours... and fruit... we always have a fruit. So within all these food preference demands I'm able to satisfy just about every one. We get a lot of raw veggies in with green smoothies as well.
Every meal we start at our table, begins with a candle being lit and a prayer... I have found that this signals to even the smallest child that the atmosphere is changing and we are now sharing in a meal. The candle works... it really works!!! I have done this with my children even when our youngest was a newborn and had no clue what food even was...
Everyone now knows that we stay at the table together until the candle is blown out. The boys love to blow the candle out together, so it works really well to get even the shortest attention span through a peaceful dinner. Mr. E not even age 2 yet, now finishes his meal by saying "done- blow candle".
It's been really rewarding to see it all start to take shape. Children love the flicker of the candle and honestly even if every thing around me is out of sorts and a mess-- it seems to ground me as well.
Mr. K and I marinated the fish early this morning before Mr. E woke up. He told me of all the things his dad had told him the night before as we worked together.
Today's rhythm has been flawless... I honestly can't always say that-- but today it was.
The boys had some extra play time outside while I was preparing lunch this afternoon, and the most spectacular thing occurred. I keep the window open in the kitchen and the back door open so that I can see and hear every thing. I noticed today they are quietly running back and forth from the grass to their designated dig/ mud hole, working together and taking turns handing each other little pieces of grass. Lunch was ready and I walked to the door... "time for lunch guys!" Mr. K (3 years old) immediately replied - "Mom we have a surprise for you, come see!" I slipped on my shoes and walked to the mud hole. I was shocked, they had planted a pretend garden. And it was amazing. My heart sank because I realized I had turned a corner and broken ground on some things I was wanting so badly to see. They planned it and made it happen... and there is a little hole in the ground was an imaginary garden filled with grass and uprooted weeds. They stood on each side so proud to show me there accomplishment. Mr. K said I'm growing carrots in there and this piece came from the acorn tree! I sat down and was so thankful-- such breakthrough on building into them things that matter.
We do not watch hardly any TV at all in our home... we are flexible and have grace and of course there is some TV on a lazy night after the kids go to sleep. But over all, Our children watch very little to none at the moment. We aren't doing this to be legalistic or primitive, but we just really really value their sacred minds and want to foster them the opportunity to be bored. I will talk more about boredom later... why its a terrible thing in the later adolescent and teenage years and a really powerful healthy thing for small children.
So we wait for creativity to happen many days, because we aren't filling in all the gaps for our kids... We don't cram every second filled with something or a noise to keep them busy. We let it go and watch them do amazing things with imagination.
So that's why I'm totally celebrating my kids dumping a bunch of weeds into a mud hole today- this means more than what meets the eye!
With love from our Monday to yours!
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