And the beat goes on

I am really jazzed about Christmas...let me say that again: I am REALLY jazzed about Christmas! I can't wait. I am looking forward to seeing both of my children in awe of the mystery of Santa Claus and I love that Cole recognizes every baby as Baby Jesus now. I told him that it is Jesus' birthday and he now sings "Happy Birthday" regularly along with "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."
I have been pretty busy this week with something going on every day except for today. Today it is really rainy and yucky so we stayed in. We had an activity on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and tomorrow we are going to a birthday party and I haven't told Cole yet. I will let him know in the morning as we are getting ready, otherwise, I won't hear the end of it.
We are still struggling with getting Cole to eat. He decides he doesn't want something just by the sight of it and no amount of coaxing or leaving him alone makes any difference. He has taken to gagging or making faces when he tastes something. He usually likes what he eats but getting him to take that first bite is like getting a train to tread water. It is really impossible.
When I worked, I was at a company that was started by entrepreneurs and had that spirit. At the company meetings, the president always said, "Why doesn't everyone do this?" The answer was always, "Because it is hard"
It is staggering to know how many people are parents and some barely cope, some rise to the occasion and hold it together, and others - and I believe that I fall into this category - really try, really find that it is important work, and really worry that one misstep on their part can lead to a juvenile delinquent. I guess if we just gave up and allowed Cole to eat mac-n-cheese all day, every day, that would be taking the easy way out and nothing good comes easy. Why doesn't everyone insist that their child eat healthy food for every meal? Because it is hard.

Meanwhile - back at the ranch - while I have been typing this, we have been begging and threatening and everything in between to get Cole to eat...finally, I got out the timer and set it to 5 minutes. I told him that when the dinger goes off, he is done. If he doesn't eat before then, he doesn't get anything else. He immediately started to gobble it up. I think this will be the rule from now on! He doddles so much, he needs to get into the habit for school. Phew!