tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post4647401336190630950..comments2024-02-05T05:15:04.759-08:00Comments on Wandering Scientist: Monkey Wrenches in My Career PlansCloudhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comBlogger66125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-63678475868702848042013-01-28T13:07:10.012-08:002013-01-28T13:07:10.012-08:00I can't learn a new language in the car (I abs...I can't learn a new language in the car (I absorb by reading not hearing), but I love The Teaching Company courses for commuting. Anything by Kenneth Harl or Robert Greenburg recommended! <br /><br />I doubt I can make much in the way of cooking recommendations since I don't have kids so it's much easier for us, but I find stir-frys are ideal for quick weeknights (especially if you buy a programmable rice cooker). Our backup dish when we are truly too tired for anything else is black beans and rice with lots of sour cream, cheese, scallions, and salsa.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-75738982193068746622013-01-25T13:32:35.615-08:002013-01-25T13:32:35.615-08:00Yes, it does suck a bit on Sundays to have to do t...Yes, it does suck a bit on Sundays to have to do the food prep (we divide it; though its actually 60-70% him, 30-40% me most weekends)---but every weeknight we say a little secular prayer of gratitude for having delicious food ready to go. anahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18320182732889825712noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-59004910568673004062013-01-24T08:37:38.863-08:002013-01-24T08:37:38.863-08:00Oh here are more suggestions, as if you needed mor...Oh here are more suggestions, as if you needed more.<br />There are tons of interesting or just plain funny podcasts you can listen to on your drive home. That may help you clear your mind while learning something new, or not. Like I said, sometimes you just need to do nothing and zone out a bit.<br /><br />Also, there's a pretty good book by Jerry Seinfeld's wife (Jessica?) that has good kid/adult-friendly recipes. She purees veggies like bell pepper, carrots and cauliflower and then integrates these into recipes from turkey chili to ragu sauce to mac & cheese, as a way to sneak in nutrition for her picky eaters. I am not sure you're worried about nutrition but just thought I throw this out there for other parents with picky eaters. When my youngest was being super picky, I mashed avocado or sweet potatoes with yogurt and he would gobble it up. oilandgarlichttp://oilandgarlic.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-70317409598848925022013-01-23T22:47:26.868-08:002013-01-23T22:47:26.868-08:00My company officially does not allow telecommuting...My company officially does not allow telecommuting arrangements. Unofficially, I can do it now and then and no one minds. <br /><br />I might look into the Instahot faucet. I hadn't thought of that option. I'll probably look into meal delivery, too- if I can find a flexible enough service that might help.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-68582968153598923452013-01-23T22:45:47.301-08:002013-01-23T22:45:47.301-08:00Thanks for the suggestion! I think I'll look i...Thanks for the suggestion! I think I'll look into the food delivery options around here. I'd forgotten about that until you and Hush mentioned it!<br /><br />I'm glad you're enjoying the career posts. I probably have a couple more coming up soon, depending on how my time works out over the next couple of weeks. <br /><br />I'm starting to think that not really having this all figured out is not just OK, but good, at least for certain types of people and certain types of careers. One of the posts I'm kicking around in my head is about that.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-74239950323082717712013-01-23T12:17:23.079-08:002013-01-23T12:17:23.079-08:00@GMP count me standing next to Cloud on the ped...@GMP count me standing next to Cloud on the ped's advice re: nursing thing: What?!<br /><br />My kid self-weaned ~14 months but drank (cow's) milk out of a "baby" bottle until he was ... 4? This, too was discouraged and ... really? If a little kid enjoys warm milk a bottle that's a ... problem? I decided "they" needed to get over it and learned just not to mention it to folks (including the ped and the dentist, and for the record, DS wasn't falling to sleep drinking it though he did enjoy a bottle as part of the nighttime routine, before we brushed teeth, of course!). I think some of these recommendations likely originated in contexts where many families have 2 (or more) kids spaced ~2 years apart and need the older one to be done with the "baby stuff" so it can be used for the new arrival, but that wasn't applicable in our family and therefore irrelevant to us.Alexicographernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-56817533940367499402013-01-23T10:08:45.289-08:002013-01-23T10:08:45.289-08:00When we had our twins (a year ago!), it was a big ...When we had our twins (a year ago!), it was a big kick in the pants for us about getting more help. When I went back to work, we started ordering dinners from a local place that makes pre-made meals. Their menu changes every week, but they always have 2 different types of soup, a casserole-like dish (e.g. shepherd's pie), and some other items. I order 3-4 meals a week from them, and then have a frozen pizza on reserve for the other night. It costs slightly less than what we would pay for takeout, but the food is healthier, and there's no nightly dithering about what-should-we-order. When I get home, I heat up a meal, feed the babies, and then we eat. Boom. The caveat is that the meals are really just for us. We too have a super-picky almost-4yo who will not eat most of what we eat. So he eats a lot of frozen chicken strips. It's not ideal, but there you go. My mantra with all of this is "It's not going to be this way forever", and these things get us through what's happening right now. <br /><br />I really enjoy hearing your bigger picture thoughts on career. I am a scientist who is still at the bench (and enjoying it) but I too wonder if I really want to do this forever. I'm not really good at the management stuff, so I don't know that I'd really want to go that route, so then what? I'm glad I'm not the only still wondering what I'm going to be when I grow up. :)Betsyhttp://twitter.com/betsyphdnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-2715060537017218372013-01-23T09:15:17.241-08:002013-01-23T09:15:17.241-08:00I would agree. Last night I went to a meeting at ...I would agree. Last night I went to a meeting at our 5 year old's school regarding the future of their program for 3 year olds. Even though I LOVE our nanny, it will be time for him to spend more time with other kids (she already takes him to the park for 2+ hours each day). But having someone at home makes life so much easier.Caleehttp://xistpublishing.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-27420068086896458292013-01-23T06:11:50.518-08:002013-01-23T06:11:50.518-08:00Also, it occurred to me this morning while driving...Also, it occurred to me this morning while driving in that (at the risk of stating the obvious!) it doesn't, of course, have to be one night per person per week. It could be one night per week spread across two people or, or, or ... you know, something in the "whatever works for you" vein. Not having to deal with any aspect of the bedtime routine one evening ... just saying ...Alexicographernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-64977375842383310992013-01-23T01:36:22.803-08:002013-01-23T01:36:22.803-08:00We have an induction stove and it actually turns i...We have an induction stove and it actually turns itself off when it gets too hot, say when you try to sterilize the pacifiers by boiling them and then forget and all the water boils away and they start melting... We later found partially molten cold pacifiers in the pot.<br />So you could actually program something and still not be afraid of fire if you get delayed.<br />You might have to replace your pots though.<br /><br />IrisevelynAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-51443732090850099412013-01-22T22:09:29.712-08:002013-01-22T22:09:29.712-08:00I thought Hungry Monkey was a great read, but the ...I thought Hungry Monkey was a great read, but the guy who wrote it was (is?) a SAHD and had lots of time to cook, so his recipes aren't super fast. And his kid sounded like a pretty adventurous eater as well (more so than even my grown husband).<br /><br />Another book reco is Dinner: A Love Story. Lots of recipes, lots about feeding kids with 2 working parents, and kids with different food prefs from each other and from the grownups. I'm loving it so far.<br /><br />We rely on a lot of Trader Joe's cooked BBQ chicken, and "snack dinners" of pepperoni or other lunch meat, soyogurt, a fruit, a veggie, and maybe some starchy thing. Ours can't do cheese or dairy so that limits it a bit, but we still get by.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15212690454989568626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-4085325469363268512013-01-22T22:00:04.294-08:002013-01-22T22:00:04.294-08:00OK, with 54 comments you probably don't need m...OK, with 54 comments you probably don't need more solutions :) but I hear you about wanting to make plans. We're in a weird spot right now too with TJ not working and me returning after mat leave in 6 weeks or so, but not sure what our longer term life looks like. It's kind of driving me nuts, to be honest.<br /><br />A couple of quick thoughts re: tips for you:<br /><br />1. Re: learning Spanish, even though they're kids' songs, I LOVE the Whistlefritz music CDs in Spanish. They are the music from the DVDs which T also loves, but they may be a bit young for Pumpkin. But the music is awesome, catchy and you will pick up a lot of Spanish just from listening, though it's not useful - it's about things like the farm, making a cake, the alphabet, parties, etc :)<br /><br />2. Re: boiling water - get yourself an Instahot faucet installed. It's a few hundred bucks and pretty easy to put in. It dispenses near-boiling water, which makes pasta boiling, instant-oatmeal and tea-making very, very easy. (Also bottle heating for babies.)<br /><br />3. Have a template for the weekly cooking and plan ahead of time - one or two nights go out or get pizza, one or two nights eat something that you cooked in a big batch over the weekend like soup or chili, one or two nights grill something quick and serve w/ frozen veggies, one night sandwiches, one night pasta, etc. I think if you know what "night" it is, and they're all relatively easy things, it won't seem as daunting.<br /><br />4. Or, if you don't want to deal with it, look into getting a personal chef who will cook and freeze several weeks of meals at once. It's actually not as expensive as it sounds. If we were both working full time, we'd totally do this. There are also meal delivery services which will drop off a cooler full of food (or you pick it up) and then all you need to do is reheat, though you'll have less choices that way.<br /><br />5. Can you convince your company to let you work from home one day since the new location is more sucky?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15212690454989568626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-81438181163827851962013-01-22T19:50:29.451-08:002013-01-22T19:50:29.451-08:00I like to parallelize the process whenever I can -...I like to parallelize the process whenever I can -- e.g. you could put smaller amounts of water in multiple pots on multiple burners, all would boil in fraction of the time! <br /><br />We have a gas stove, so water boils pretty fast, but I "massively parallize" whenever I am making (large quantities) of French toast (my homeland variety) or crepes or Wiener schnitzels -- I take up 3 or 4 burners and am done in no time!GMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17872461021953583473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-71653579413761330232013-01-22T19:00:17.782-08:002013-01-22T19:00:17.782-08:00We do occasionally each go out (individually) at n...We do occasionally each go out (individually) at night. The idea of doing it more often is interesting. Hmmmm....Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-62996173484505886052013-01-22T18:57:45.143-08:002013-01-22T18:57:45.143-08:00My parents have a stove with an induction burner a...My parents have a stove with an induction burner and love it. My cheap solution to the slow water boiling problem w/my current stove is to preboil the water in our electric kettle. Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-68785032351672019682013-01-22T18:56:43.946-08:002013-01-22T18:56:43.946-08:00Yeah, I've seen dry cleaning delivery trucks d...Yeah, I've seen dry cleaning delivery trucks driving around and I keep meaning to try that. But I have dry cleaning once every quarter or so, so I never remember at the right time!<br /><br />I've considered the meal delivery services, too. I suspect that would feel even more extravagant than a college kid assistant to Mr. Snarky, so maybe it would be useful as a discussion point. Hmmmm....Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-50008657985602341092013-01-22T18:55:10.656-08:002013-01-22T18:55:10.656-08:00@Laura, to be fair, from what I've heard about...@Laura, to be fair, from what I've heard about Hungry Monkey it isn't in that narrative at all. I haven't read it because I've heard that its core advice is very similar to Ellyn Satter's (parents choose what and when to feed, kids choose how much to eat), and while I think that advice is pretty good and likely to "work" for the vast majority of kids, I also think it won't work unmodified for Pumpkin. If I were still actively looking for ideas about how to handle Pumpkin's eating, I'd probably read the book, but since I'm not... I don't want to. Also, it is usually recommended to me as being written by a real foodie. Which is not a selling point to me! I am soooo not a foodie.<br /><br />@GMP- I can't believe your pediatrician is pressuring you to wean. Mine was thrilled that I nursed past 2. I like your last line, about kids being their own people.<br /><br />@Nicoleandmaggie- I hope my comment didn't offend. There is a lot more going on with Pumpkin's eating than I discuss here, mostly because I've decided discussing it here just makes me stressed about something that does not need to be stressful.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-6575212772754767242013-01-22T18:37:56.388-08:002013-01-22T18:37:56.388-08:00OK. I have zero experience of kids who are picky ...OK. I have zero experience of kids who are picky eaters. I guess what occurs to me is to keep a default option (for the kids) handy and pre-prepped, e.g., I find that pasta will keep for nigh on a week, once cooked, in the fridge, so if you could have that "on hand" then the kids can eat it whenever they don't like the alternative (maybe you are already doing this). Also I routinely freeze cooked shrimp, ground beef (and other ground meats -- poultry, pork), chicken, and sausage, which I know doesn't help with your kids' meals but can be handy to have around to use as part of an (adult) meal. (I do also keep frozen cooked rice which I find warms up surprisingly well in the microwave with a splash of water, but I don't know how this would work for Mexican rice. Maybe?) A lot of what I prep to have "on hand" can be cooked in about the time it takes to tidy up after supper and can be done at pretty much the same time as tidying up after supper, so (rather than allocate separate time blocks to that) maybe you or Mr. Snarky can add (some) food prep to cleanup time? Do I remember right that Mr. Snarky handles cleanup b/c you do bedtimes?<br /><br />Something else I had thought of suggesting in some of your earlier posts about balance, kids, etc., is the following, and it may sound nuts in this context (heck, it may be nuts in this context) but what if you and Mr. Snarky each took one night out? DH and I do this and as nutty as it probably sounds, having one night when I don't have to leave the office is surprisingly freeing. So in this new circumstance of yours that would be one night when Mr. Snarky (and you of course) would have to get both kids, obviously a major hassle, but the upside would be one night when you (and he) didn't have to get, or cope with, any kids. DH takes DS out to supper on his sole-parent nights whereas I usually declare mine to be an "apple-and-cheese, it's what for dinner!" night, but the point is, both of us do minimized routines and conversely, reap the benefits on our nights out of having no routines. It would be hard to describe how much I enjoy this. On his night, DH often comes home quite late, say, midnight (he goes out with friends) and I come home (usually) relatively earlier (say 10), as I sometimes work or do other stuff that tends to end earlier than DH's activities, though I (mostly) try to be sure I am NOT home until I can be sure DS is asleep. With two kids and different locations and commutes that might not work, or might conversely be the ideal moment to hire a helper to do some picking up, if such a person's services can be procured. <br /><br />That's all I've got, except of course good wishes for finding some set of solutions that works well for you and yours (oh, and the thought that this, too, shall pass).<br /><br />Alexicographerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06029216139568740202noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-27776972673303351812013-01-22T17:56:46.583-08:002013-01-22T17:56:46.583-08:00Learning to relax about kids eating and sleeping a...Learning to relax about kids eating and sleeping and thumb sucking and sleeping through the night and weaning from the breast etc etc has really improved my quality of life and enhanced my enjoyment of parenting (not that I have mastered the relaxing bit, but we are getting there). It pisses me off when the pediatrician keeps telling me that I should wean my 18-month-old and that he should not nurse at night; why not? I plan on weaning him after the flu season, what's the hurry? <br /><br />But I digress. My soon to be 13 year old now eats everything. He used to be very picky, still is, but somewhere, somehow along the way he managed to learn to eat a variety. The 5-year-old is an exclusive carnivore, and we don't stress; sometimes he feels adventurous about trying new foods, most of the time not. The baby is a baby and it all depends on his mood and how the food looks to him. Generally, we insist on family meals in that everyone sits at the table together. Apart from the oldest, the kids rarely eat what we do or eat only one item, and that's fine. Life's too crazy even without obsessing about what they don't eat. Some battles are not worth fighting. <br /><br />I am very high-strung about most aspects of my life, but somehow I don't really obsess about kid sleeping or eating, maybe because I've embraced the fact that the power parents have over anything kids do (assuming normal, non-abusive parents) is very limited. And that's how it should be, they are their own people. GMPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17872461021953583473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-17762184277271293922013-01-22T14:46:26.908-08:002013-01-22T14:46:26.908-08:00Just had a thought -- have you considered replacin...Just had a thought -- have you considered replacing the stove with an induction model, which boils water like immediately? I would never personally feel comfortable with programming anything to start cooking automatically, I'm too freaked out about fire danger. But induction stoves do have an appreciably better response time, especially if you have an old electric stove, the difference will be night and day.Parisienne Mais Presquehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11738349799871162562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-65084164653902510652013-01-22T13:43:52.870-08:002013-01-22T13:43:52.870-08:00Oh, how I dislike the common narrative out there i...Oh, how I dislike the common narrative out there in the blogosphere that the children will eat kale for breakfast if only you are a better mother, taking them to kale farms and growing kale in your backyard and so forth. Same with sleep. Your children will go to bed at 7:30 and sleep for 12 hours straight if only you turn into a fundamentalist follower of XYZ sleep expert!Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.lauravanderkam.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-63229272215057279332013-01-22T10:55:03.894-08:002013-01-22T10:55:03.894-08:00I know I said this just above, but I feel like I s...I know I said this just above, but I feel like I should reiterate that I'm not looking for solutions either. Nobody has ever said anything to me about Christopher Robin's eating, but it's not a "problem" I'm trying to "fix". I'm belaboring this only because I'm so sympathetic to what you say here, and because I know only too well how hard it is to maintain normalcy when everyone is intent on making something a problem. I was picky as a child and terrorized by adults not my parents policing my eating until i could scarcely bear to eat in public. It's like when everyone was going crazy about that French people raise their kids better, especially about the food stuff, and I was like why do we CARE? why is this a cultural value if someone's kid eats green beans? I mean, if they do, fine, but it's almost pathological the weight we put on what and how kids eat. No wonder we all have disordered eating.Erinnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-19457864999861875842013-01-22T09:14:59.179-08:002013-01-22T09:14:59.179-08:00I know you have to find what works for you, but:
(...I know you have to find what works for you, but:<br />(1) Audiobooks (or podcasts) are great to make the commute feel more "useful." We get MULTIPLE audiobooks at the public library because there are a lot of duds out there that are just painful to listen to. So we might try 2 or 3 before hitting on one that is enjoyable, but then it will last for a few weeks since they are so long. A good podcast I can recommend is Radiolab. The earlier episodes were probably better.<br />(2) Prepping meals on the weekend. I was just complaining to my husband how exhausting it was to spend EVERY Sunday evening cooking, but really - it does make the rest of the week much more smooth, and is the best option. An alternative is to only do this every second Sunday, and switch between prepped meals one week and then slow cooker meals and super quick meals the next. Another middle ground option is to make double batches of things on Sunday or a week night and then you have at least two days of food, but it doesn't feel like you spent 5 hours cooking a bazillion meals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-63408750057201986982013-01-22T08:51:07.320-08:002013-01-22T08:51:07.320-08:00You know, one thing that is also hard about the lo...You know, one thing that is also hard about the longer commute, it's not just the additional time, it's additional fatigue. It's hard to explain to someone who has never experienced it (like my hubby) and I could't really explain it myself but I have much more energy now that I don't have that extra 30 minutes (1 hour total every day) dodging through traffic.oghttp://oilandgarlic.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29235839.post-33970162544015874962013-01-22T07:03:01.383-08:002013-01-22T07:03:01.383-08:00Trust me, the only stress I feel about dinners the...Trust me, the only stress I feel about dinners these days is the time constraint.<br /><br />I've stopped writing about picky eating much because if I write about it everyone wants to tell me how to fix it. Frankly, I don't want or need advice on how to fix it. We have a plan, we like the plan we're following, and we don't think we have a problem. Really, truly. I'm not sure why you think I'm stressed about it. I did stress about this more a couple of years ago, and perhaps that is what you are remembering. I was definitely stressed about it when I needed to get Pumpkin eating finger foods so she could move to the next room at day care, but that was more than four years ago now. Anyway, I figured out that the stress was external, caused by well-meaning people telling me how to fix children I do not think are broken. Also by less than well-meaning people who think how we eat is a reflection of our moral health, but those people are just obnoxious so I try to avoid them altogether now.<br /><br />We do not call our kids picky eaters when they can hear, and we try to keep other people from doing that, but it is hard because other people like to tell us how to fix it, and haven't gotten the memo about how making a big deal out of it is counterproductive. Heck, I know that from my own experience as a kid. I can *remember* digging my heels in and refusing to eat something because some relative or the other was trying to cajole me. Our standard response when our kids say they don't like something is to shrug and say that perhaps they aren't old enough to like it yet and will like it when they get older. <br /><br />I only brought picky eating up in this thread to explain why the slow cooker solution is not the magic solution people think it is. For us, it is just a source of meals that only the grown ups will eat. Does Hungry Monkey suggest that we just feed the food they won't eat to them anyway, perhaps along with bread? That is the "standard advice" I am talking about, and my opinion is that it is suited for an eater like Petunia but not for one like Pumpkin. I don't really want to go into my reasoning, because I don't really want to discuss it.<br /><br />For the record, Petunia has never eaten green veggies, not even as a baby when we fed her purees. She just spit out the ones with green veggies and refused to take more bites. She did used to eat some fruit- loved strawberries even- so I suspect that will come back in when she's a bit older.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.com