OS with young kids - tips & advice

Bluegreen143

I was thinking of this thread the other day so thought I’d post on it again and see how other parents are getting on  

How things have changed since February when I last posted!

My husband has been furloughed for about 12 weeks now and we really need to make some cut backs. It’s been amazing having him at home, really wonderful, but for the sake of our finances we hope he can return to work soon - it’s looking like he will have some training next week then return properly about the start of July.

Lockdown has allowed us to get our youngest (now 18 months) into a brilliant routine, stop breastfeeding her and do some sleep training and now she sleeps and naps brilliantly, hurrah! And the children have experienced this explosion of creative energy (borne from no longer being entertained and carted to activities daily!). and just play together so nicely all day now, particularly in the garden. So it’s much more viable to be more OS now than when I started this thread as I’m finally well rested! I’m in Scotland so no nursery for the 4yo til August, and as a non working stay at home parent it isn’t clear that I’ll get any kind of place for him right away either.

 I’ve been doing tons of baking and cooking, including mastering sourdough, and my vegetable garden is absolutely flourishing this year. We got two more chickens the week before lockdown so we have four now but in spite of all this the cost of our weekly shop has absolutely skyrocketed. Partly buying more treats as we’ve gotten into really bad habits of eating lots of sugary snacks (adults, not the kids). Partly just because we are eating every single meal at home with no lunches out etc (except maybe two takeaways a month). Partly because we are buying more household and DIY items with our weekly shop for ease, and partly because Red is drinking more than before (absolutely not problematic amounts or to get drunk, he just likes a few beers but it’s every night now he’s not working and having to drive in the morning). So need to really sit down and break it down and keep records I think. I’ll join the grocery challenge for that.

How are other parents in OS getting on? Hope you are all surviving and the kids are doing well.

Toonie

I'm not a parent but I've enjoyed reading through this thread, a lot of the tips are really useful even if you don't have kids. Having prepared snacks is definitely useful and itemising a budget is something I really need to do (in fact I was going to be doing a bit of a budget tomorrow so I'm now going to do a more comprehensive one).

We're trying to grow some veg this year. My partner and I moved into a new place last year which has a smallish but very mature garden so we've been leaving it to see what grows. There are two well established grape vines which I'm looking forward to trying. Otherwise we've put in a little greenhouse and have tomatoes on the go and tomorrow I'm planting out salad which we started in the greenhouse. I'm also hoping to do some beans and I planted a small gooseberry bush (though it won't really fruit until next year).

missychrissy

I gave birth to a son in 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985 and 1987. Unfortunately my middle son died aged 12 weeks so I went on to bring up 4 sons. I think I brought them up OS. On the whole they ate whatever meals I cooked - standards were: cottage pie; toad in the hole (sometimes individual ones); roasts; spag bol and lasagne; pies (homemade); quiches and frittatas; casseroles; fish various ways etc. I well remember going to a christening when my eldest was about 9 and there was an impressive spread ( mum and dad owned a restaurant) and the children’s table was set out with hula hoops, cocktail sausages etc. My eldest wouldn’t sit with the kids, which surprised me, until he asked if he could have the adults’ food and sit with the kids. He said he wanted salmon, prawns and avocado. It was at that point I realised my children were not fussy eaters and I’d managed to expose them to a wide variety of foods. Sweets, cakes, biscuits and crisps were special occasion treats only. There was the odd pudding such as a crumble and rice pudding but not every day. We did have ‘super tea’ on a Sunday that included a cake or buns, sandwiches and whatever else I could put together that was ‘tea’ and not dinner. I always did a Sunday roast for lunch so ‘super tea’ was a top up.

My sons did have the odd dislike eg one didn’t like prawns (he does now) and apart from chips another son didn’t like potatoes (he does now). Meals were put in front of them and that was it.  All my sons can cook though my eldest doesn’t do it very often as his wife prefers to do the cooking. So long as the division of labour is fair then that’s ok. 
There was some resistance to certain foods but often there was a way around it. I used to make a corned beef, onion and potato pie with homemade mushy peas (my sons still remember the hiss of the pressure cooker). They were a bit resistant to this until I started putting a face on the pie and calling it ‘Smiley Pie’. They then used to argue over who got the mouth, eye etc. I also used to hide a bit of veg sometimes: whizzed cooked cauliflower in Mac n cheese, grated carrot, celery and onion in spaghetti bol and a couple of tablespoons of red lentils to thicken casseroles, spag Bol etc.
I didn’t waste much. Soup is a good way of using up things and I always used a fair amount of dried ingredients such as lentils, split peas, barley, marrow fat peas (still do).
Nowadays, the pressure cooker is replaced by the slow cooker.
Times have changed. I was a stay at home mum whilst these days most parents both work. There is not perhaps the time to plan and prepare. Sorry for being long winded but I kind of got on a roll.

Bluegreen143

Thanks to both of you for commenting 🙂

@Toonie your garden sounds fantastic. We are doing great this year and it’s so satisfying. Jealous of your grape vines! I don’t think they would grow here in Glasgow, too far north.

It’s funny that you mention about many of the tips working for those without children too. When lockdown began I made a list of what I felt were the children’s essential daily needs (I love lists, am very interested in childhood development and also found it reassuring to have a “plan” for the coming weeks with no nursery/outings/playgroups etc.

The list included things like “nourishing food at proper set mealtimes”, “plenty of sleep and rest”, “fresh air and exercise”, “time for free play and reading stories” and “quality time with a loving parent”. Not only was this list reassuring in reminding me that I’m perfectly capable of meeting my children’s needs in lockdown, but I had a lightbulb moment re self care when I realised that the things I need to prioritise for my children and the exact needs I have as an adult. I too need sleep, good food, exercise/fresh air, time to work on my own hobbies and reading, and time with friends and loved ones. So all the structure I put in place for the children is important for me too, if I want to feel healthy and happy. So perhaps it’s not surprising a lot of the same tips apply to families with no children too!

@missychrissy Thank you so much for you message and for sharing your perspective as someone who has been there before. Love all your stories of your family meals - it’s very inspiring! Both my kids are going through picky stages but I just keep serving things, without forcing them to eat specific items, though I do encourage them to taste everything. There is no alternative meal if they don’t eat though I try to ensure something they both like is on the table (ie bread, or chopped up salad veg) and they are welcome to have plain Greek yoghurt and honey as afters if there’s no pudding planned. Over time I find they will come back to previously rejected foods if I’m steadfast in continuing to serve them. Neither had eaten scrambled egg for months but then two weeks ago I served it and they both wolfed the eggs down even before their toast and are now obsessed with it!

Agree it must be very challenging for families where both adults work to find the time for being OS. I’m a stay at home mum too so I’m lucky in that respect.