Big Fat Lie
Find a Conversation
Big Fat Lie
| Sat, 09-11-2004 - 1:41pm |
I'm the mother of 2. I have 2 boys, one is 2 1/2, the other is 4 months old. Before I had my second baby, I was a full time nurse and was making more money than my husband. That being said, he never really had a problem with it. The extra money helped us pay for extras. Well, I decided after the second child, that I would stay at home most of the week. I work only 2 days a week, 6 hours a day. Now all of the sudden, I do EVERYTHING. He does not get up at night with this baby, he does not keep the house clean with me, NOTHING I do is important enough. (He plays softball once a week, goes out with the guys after etc.) I do not do anything. (Actually I get to go to Weight Watchers on Fridays while my mom watches the kids.) I have no life anymore, and his life is fantastic! I tried to take a class, but he wouldn't help with the kids enough so I couldn't stick with it.
When we got married we were going to share all responsibilities, take care of the kids TOGETHER, do the housework TOGETHER. It was all just a BIG FAT LIE!!!!
When we got married we were going to share all responsibilities, take care of the kids TOGETHER, do the housework TOGETHER. It was all just a BIG FAT LIE!!!!

Pages
For the record, I also don't use those timer coffee pots that turn themselves on while you're still asleep so the coffee is ready. I don't want ANYTHING heating anything else when I'm not there except the furnace and the hot water heater.
It's weird b/c I'm usually so adverse to extra fat (i.e. I drain my ground beef/chicken when I stir fry, cut off all excess fat from meat before cooking) but for some reason I don't mind it in my crock pot dishes. With the roast beef I'm making tonight it's like a gravy to add a little moisture to the meat & veggies. I don't drown the food, but I don't mind a little bit (unlike your DH!) :)
that year was the year I took Lois' idea and ran with it. On Monday mornings (the last "day" of my weekend" and a time when most kids would be in school), I would do my marathon cooking session and put up all my lunches and dinners for the week. Not only did it save me TONS of money and time, which I *did* expect, it also was the only year I didn't gain weight during filing season, which I did NOT expect. Basically, we in financial print live off of fattening foods during the filing season because they tend to be the ones easiest to come by in the middle of the night with little or no prep time.
The inconvenience of being tied to the house those Monday mornings was MORE that overriden by the additional sleep I was able to indulge in (microwaving meals already prepped can be done while I was showering for work), by having a lunch ready and packed and all I had to do was grab it from the fridge and put it in my backpack, by the thoroughly eliminated stress of trying to figure out what I could cook in what little available time I had, trying to clean the kitchen (much easier when the cooking's done and all there is are the plates and one serving dish). It was the most stress-free filing season I'd ever experienced and I deeply regretted it this year that I wasn't as organized and didn't do it again.
There are HUGE pros involved in bulk cooking that more than override one or two days' worth of inconvenience.
Karen
"A pocketknife is like a melody;sharp in some places,
Mondo
Yes that is very true. But for me that is what this whole debate is about. People should be free to live their lives the way they want to live them. I do some bulk cooking (soup, spaghetti sauce) but for the most part our family enjoys having fresh food prepared daily. That is one of the reasons I stopped working ft. So that I could provide that for my family. I was unable to provide that while I was working ft and it bothered me and it bothered dh as well.
That doesn't mean EVERYONE has to do what I do. Other people are free to live their lives the way they want to live them. That is what gets me so riled up about this debate.
Jenna
I really hate frozen food - really hate it, it's one of my little quirks (one of many, lol). When my mom came to live with us we went grocery shopping together once. I got home, was taking care of the baby, and she put the groceries away. When I went to make dinner that night and discovered NONE of my meat in the fridge, I was livid! She'd frozen it ALL. I couldn't believe it. She said that everyone does it, and it's easy to microwave it to defrost. I can honestly say that meat is STILL in my freezer, and I have no intention of ever using it. First of all, if I microwave it, I'm pre-cooking it. Ick. If I leave it out to defrost, I'm opening myself and my family up to millions of germs that could fester on it. Gross.
Weight has loss has never been an issue for me - if I need to lose some, I lose it pretty easily. Freezing food wouldn't make any difference for me. I can totally see your (and Lois') point about convenience, etc. though. Who knows, when I have another baby I may have no choice! :)
I try to cook from scratch several times a week. I too use bulk cooking, but I add convenience items like prewashed, bagged lettuce. I don't see any difference between tearing and washing lettuce and pouring it out of a bag. I mean, it's still lettuce.
No way do I spend two hours, but then again, if I didn't leave the kitchen , I probably would. Tonight we are having stuffed shells. I made them 2 weeks ago and froze them before I cooked them. I will stick them in the oven for an hour, pour some bagged salad and veggies into a salad bowl and make some garlic bread. I figure it will be approx 10 minutes worth of effort, but the prep time start to finish will be over an hour, since they take an hour to cook. So am I cooking for an hour or 10 minutes? I'm not sure.
Susan
http://store.everythinghome.org/peblsagrse71.html
To drain the fat after cooking, pull the meat out and set it on paper towels first, before putting it in the serving dish. Then remove the veggies, etc. with a slotted spoon, leaving the liquid behind; cover all that to keep it hot while you deal w/ the liquid. Pour the liquid into a separating cup, and put in in the freezer for 5 minutes. (You can just let it cool at room temp, but that will take longer, of course) Then pour the liquid, sans fat, into something you can microwave, zap it for a minute to get it hot again, and put it back in with the rest of the dish. A bit of hassle, but it works.
Pages