When Alby first moved onto solids I found it a real struggle to remember his meals. With breastfeeding the only forethought needed is over what tops to wear in the morning, whereas weaning seemed to constantly leave me being caught short. I’d be out grocery shopping when I should have been feeding him lunch or doing chores through dinner.
I’d like to say that almost six months on I’d perfected meal times, but I’m afraid it’s still a bit of work in progress. Breakfast we have down to a fine art, although truth be told Alby can often be found sitting on the kitchen floor eating breadsticks as I pull everything together. With Alby at nursery for lunch almost every day circumstances force me to be organised. His lunch fluctuates between tuna, carrot and cheese toasties, chicken, carrot and cheese toasties and vegetable omelette (of course with cheese).
When it comes to dinner though, it all gets a little bit messy. Essentially because I’m still stuck in my old ways of forgetting that little man needs food! I finish work, collect him from the nursery and in theory we should have two hours to ourselves before dinner. Where those two hours disappear to though I have no idea. I pull together whatever I can as quickly as I can and then get emotionally thrown about when he responds by being less than keen for the odd assembly of food I lay before him. Alby’s little nuance of only preferring his food at room temperature adds an extra challenge with him rejecting foods fresh from the oven or out of the fridge.
Conscious that blame for dinner time failings lie much more on my lap than his, I am on a drive to be more organised. And, as such I spent much of last night mass cooking for Alby. With Annabel Karmel on one side and a cheese grater on the other I made a feast of chicken burgers and pasta dishes to keep him satisfied for the rest of the week.
I used to worry about the amount of cheese Alby eats. It is hands down his most favourite food and there was a time when it featured heavily in every meal. However, I have found great comfort in the fact that almost all baby recipes, including those by Annabel, include cheese.
Today I remembered to take out my prepared meal from the fridge a few hours before dinner so it could warm up. I was thrilled when Alby chomped down all of my offerings. Here types a smug mother, who has provided her child with three well rounded, healthy meals.
My own dinner of rice cakes and cheese triangles wasn’t quite so impressive, but such is a mother’s lot, we’ll worry about me another day. Perhaps.
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