The noice that brings silence at cooking time
What doesn't belong in this photo?

23 hours of the 24 hours of my mother of two - days I can handle pretty good (if I do say so myself, I am so modest). But that one hour, say, between 5 PM and 6 PM? I get a little stressed. Because in that one hour I have two problems and one big challenge: to magically turn ingredients into a healthy dinner on the table.
I present problems A and B:
Problem A: a 2-year old toddler who has been experiencing with skipping naps and between 5 and 6 goes nuts from from lack of energy "Let's see what mommy does when I stick a cucumber in the cats ear" and "Let's see what mommy does when I play soccer with a tomato" and "Let's see what mommy does when I try to feed my baby sister potatoes"
Problem B: a two month old baby, who's favorite time to cry is between 5 PM and 6 PM.
See how cooking a meal can be challenging?
In general I fix "problem A", by letting Monkey help me. He's got his own apron and oven gloves and I let him snack of the vegetables. If I ignore the occasional flying pieces of carrot and unions, this works pretty well.
I've tried the apron on "Problem B". But the blue apron doesn't go well with her pink clothes she's not really into that yet. A few days ago, the clock turned to cooking time and little miss Roo started to cry. The loudness of that crying (you won't believe the volume that comes out of this little pink thing) caused a brain fart which made me remember an article about white noise and colic babies.
And voila: a hair blower in the kitchen.
Laugh all you want (I bet our gas & electricity company does) But it WORKED! The baby was happily asleep. And when the baby is happy, mommy is happy and when mommy is happy EVERYBODY is happy (and feed)

I said HAPPY... SMILE.

What's that? SMIIIIIIIIIIIIILE to the internet people.

Good kid. Now take that zucchini out of that cat's ass and give it back to mommy. I need it for the salad I'll have to throw it away now.
Comments
hahaha... now I know where that 'special flavor' comes from.
Posted by: Freezem at April 1, 2008 12:53 PM
LOL!! I have soooo been there.
Posted by:
Arkie Mama at April 1, 2008 3:26 PM
Lol. This was hilarious. :)
Posted by:
M@ at April 1, 2008 4:30 PM
What a great idea? The exhaust fan in the bathroom or the vacuum cleaner used to soothe my boys :-)
Posted by:
Alissa at April 1, 2008 6:31 PM
I wonder if running the hair dryer would keep the cat out of my kitchen. Or maybe you could just send Monkey and a zucchini over to 'distract' Max while I made dinner. Very funny post.
Drop by my blog, I have a present for you!
Posted by:
alison at April 1, 2008 6:31 PM
Good job, clever Mommy! And you know you have the CUTEST kids, right?
Heidi
Posted by:
Heidi at April 1, 2008 8:11 PM
Oh my God I burst out laughing with that last line!!!
I remember those awful days, though, of going through the 5 p.m./dinner/not napped time... And then the baby was always hungry just when the meal was ready... ARGH!
Posted by:
madmad at April 1, 2008 8:25 PM
LOL! Sounds like the dinner ritual around here :)
Posted by:
Mom On The Run at April 1, 2008 8:49 PM
Monkey is ADORABLE!!! And you're just hilarious!
Posted by: Chantelle at April 2, 2008 12:16 AM
Hey, whatever it takes, right?
Posted by:
lilypotter at April 2, 2008 2:21 AM
What a brilliant idea!!!
Just don't accidentally drop the hair dryer into the sink!
Posted by:
teahouseblossom at April 2, 2008 2:52 PM
I love your blog!! Such a cool layout!!
I'm with ya on the 5pm-6pm witching hour thing.....my children don't know a lick about telling time....but sometimes they make me wonder!!! Because it's always the same time everyday. Of course, it's also my hour to begin my "PleaseMcDaddyGetHomeSoonOrElseI'mGoingToScream" prayer.
Posted by:
McMommy at April 2, 2008 7:31 PM
Good idea with the hair dryer! A small fan might work also. If you really want to get serious, check out:
http://www.marpac.com/sound_cond.asp
We used a home-grown version of something similar to get our youngest to sleep, many many years ago.
Posted by: Karl at April 2, 2008 7:38 PM
The hair dryer is such a great idea. Way to be creative! I'm impressed.
Posted by:
Nicole at April 3, 2008 2:31 AM
What we mothers do to keep out kids calm. Seriously! I know my sister use to keep the washer running with her kids in a car seat on top. That is what worked for her :)
Posted by:
Motherhood For Dummies at April 3, 2008 7:03 PM
A hairdryer going in the kitchen made the baby fall asleep? Brilliant! I'll have to remember that one day far, far (far-far-far) in the future. :)
Posted by:
Zandria at April 5, 2008 4:07 AM
hahaha... now I know where that 'special flavor' comes from.
LOL!! I have soooo been there.
Lol. This was hilarious. :)
What a great idea? The exhaust fan in the bathroom or the vacuum cleaner used to soothe my boys :-)
I wonder if running the hair dryer would keep the cat out of my kitchen. Or maybe you could just send Monkey and a zucchini over to 'distract' Max while I made dinner. Very funny post.
Drop by my blog, I have a present for you!
Good job, clever Mommy! And you know you have the CUTEST kids, right?
Heidi
Oh my God I burst out laughing with that last line!!!
I remember those awful days, though, of going through the 5 p.m./dinner/not napped time... And then the baby was always hungry just when the meal was ready... ARGH!
LOL! Sounds like the dinner ritual around here :)
Monkey is ADORABLE!!! And you're just hilarious!
Hey, whatever it takes, right?
What a brilliant idea!!!
Just don't accidentally drop the hair dryer into the sink!
I love your blog!! Such a cool layout!!
I'm with ya on the 5pm-6pm witching hour thing.....my children don't know a lick about telling time....but sometimes they make me wonder!!! Because it's always the same time everyday. Of course, it's also my hour to begin my "PleaseMcDaddyGetHomeSoonOrElseI'mGoingToScream" prayer.
Good idea with the hair dryer! A small fan might work also. If you really want to get serious, check out:
http://www.marpac.com/sound_cond.asp
We used a home-grown version of something similar to get our youngest to sleep, many many years ago.
The hair dryer is such a great idea. Way to be creative! I'm impressed.
What we mothers do to keep out kids calm. Seriously! I know my sister use to keep the washer running with her kids in a car seat on top. That is what worked for her :)
A hairdryer going in the kitchen made the baby fall asleep? Brilliant! I'll have to remember that one day far, far (far-far-far) in the future. :)