Nine Meals a Day?

I was feeding my beautiful boy a bottle tonight, just grooving in the rocking chair with him, thinking about my day. I did nothing remarkable. In fact, we didn’t even leave the house. The only item on our schedule was one hour of PT for Joseph. That’s it. And yet, I’m pooped. Yes, I know some of this is the parvo talking, but that can’t be all of it. So, as I rocked and grooved and loved on my boy (listening to Sophia read quietly to herself in the other room), I started to mull over the minutia of the day and I made a startling discovery. I served, as I do every day, NINE unique meals. Nine. How in the world is that possible? (And no wonder my hands always look a mess!)

So, here’s what we ate today:

1. Breakfast for two girls: eggs over easy, sourdough toast, orange juice and blessed coffee for me (coffee courtesy my lovely husband). I don’t mean to brag (as Ben says, Modesty is my middle name), but I’m getting really good at runny eggs.
2. Breakfast for one small boy: organic prunes (the only jarred food I buy) and organic oatmeal cereal.
3. Mid-morning snack: messy but delectable organic peach for Sophia. Juice just running down her arm. She looked overjoyed.
4. Lunch for two girls: tortellini with prosciutto and spinach from the night before. Just as good on day two.
5. Lunch for the boy: organic homemade sweet potatoes and oatmeal cereal.
6. Mid-afternoon snack: the most sinfully delicious double cream brie and more sourdough (really, who can get enough sourdough?).
7. Dinner for everyone, served once to Ben before work and once to two hungry girls: buffalo taco salads with black beans and corn. A successful experiment with buffalo, I believe.
8. Dinner for Joseph: organic homemade peas and, you guessed it, oatmeal cereal.
9. Bedtime snack for the girl: organic blueberry yogurt and five M&Ms. What a treat!

Oh, and lest I forget, Joseph’s also had five bottles today (5:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m., two of which his daddy gave him). Does that count as three additional meals I served?

This is a good approximation of a typical day for me, cooking-wise. Some things from scratch, some tasty leftovers, lots of snacks, lots of bottles, lots and lots and lots of dishes.

Okay, so, no wonder I’m pooped. But, as I enjoy a well-deserved glass of red wine, at the very least I get to go to bed with the not-insignificant satisfaction that, no matter what else happened around here today, everyone went to bed well-fed.