Oh, we can do this

My dear friend invited our family unit over for dinner tonight. Both having two and a half year olds and a serious picky eater among them {my kid}, I worried, she worried. We just generally wondered how it would go and it's probably the reason why we've put it off so long. We're both fairly ambitious working mothers, which contributed to our angst. We want everything to be perfect and go perfectly. The fact that we are mothers is surprising. {I'm not sure it bodes well for our children.} But we got together and lived to tell the tale. She made dinner {amazing grilled salmon with basil corn tomato relish and green beans with pancetta}. I brought dessert {chocolate peanut butter Reese's cookies and gelato}. Of course our kids didn't want to eat it {more for us}, so we heated up pizza and they gobbled that up. Success! The cookies were amazing, but a source of contention when the tots wanted more {of course}. I was amazed how well Vincent did, mainly playing off on his own with toys. I can't wait to do it again. I'm truly surprised how enjoyable it was since Jonathan and I are not that social {introverts}, but we both enjoyed the company and the kids {the wine was good too}. 

Learning the hard way

Moms don't let kids chew on power cords.

Forgive my snap judgements

I'm getting to that age where I'm thinking how I'll raise my children. This is probably due in most part to all the people around me having babies—co-workers, friends, and definitely the family. I catch myself thinking, "I will never allow my child to do that" or "My child will do this." Forgive me. I've fallen trap to that mistake all future parents make: judgement. If I can learn anything from these people in my life that already have kids is getting advice and just an keeping an open mind. Kids aren't robots. They've got lots of personality that can't always be managed within the confines of what we think is right or wrong. Rather, both parent and child are learning.

So to all you parents out there, good job. You really don't get enough credit.