Gloom, Gray and Grump.

If you ever want to feel the sensation that your skills have been devalued with a single comment, ask an mother of several kids their advice on your own kid. Not only will they give you ten times more advice than you actually wanted, but they'll make you feel like a bad mom while you do it.

What do you mean you aren't stewing and smushing all of your own fruit and steaming your own veggies? How could you POSSIBLY consider giving them something pre-prepared from a jar, regardless of the ingredient list! You should be eating only microwave tv-meals, and spending all your time and energy preparing an illustrious list of the most exclusive ingredients for your tot. After all, the floor and cabinets will appreciate the increased quality of everything they get smeared with.

While I can definitely see the value of prepare your own stuff, for someone who's only really broken away from using the microwave (at all) around a year ago, the idea of constantly being at the stove for ANY reason is, quite frankly, daunting. And goddamn it, after spending all day working, my husband and I deserve a good home cooked meal just as much as the Mini monster does. It's not my fault we can't eat all the same dishes yet, and it's not his either.

My husband especially works some pretty insane hours, and he definitely deserves to get something that didn't come out of a take out box once in a while, which is why I made us Soup last night instead of juggling soup and trying to cook rice and beans, in which case I definitely would have burned something. Mini was just fine with his jarred sweet potatoes and cereal.

That being said I did make my first attempt to Stew some fruit today. I chopped up a peach and a nectarine into tiny chunks and cooked them on the stove, after first starting the wrong burner. ((I'm a genius when I'm sick.))

Mini definietly didn't want to wait, so he had his normal favorite, Yogurt. ((I'm also gonna try and mix some of the stewed fruit, blended, with plain yogurt.))

I guess I'm just being tired and pissy because I know Mini Monster is a really happy, healthy baby, but I'm out there working under the knowledge that no matter what, someone's not going to be happy. There are people who won't like me because I'm a stay at home mom, there are people who won't like me for using formula, for using disposable diapers, you name it. Someone out there WON'T like me for it.

But I don't, really don't think any of it makes me a bad mom because I've got damn good reasons for all of it. ((And if you are one of those people who starts screaming that I shouldn't use formula because it's somehow evil, come visit. I'll bop you upside the head a few times with a bottle of Simulac while I explain my choices.))

Weather wise it's sorta gray and blah, mixed with bursts of sunshine. Could be better, could be worse. Definitely starting to really 'feel' like fall though. I'm looking forward to taking a weekend and getting a pumpkin (or two) to decorate the steps/lawn. It'll also be an enlightening experience to see if it survives. I don't know the pumpkin survival rating for this neighborhood.