So, I used to really enjoy eating. I grew up in a culture where food was an important relational tool; we ate dinner together most every night. My mom is an amazing cook with a knack for menu choice. I still love going home to her meals. I remember cooking with her in the kitchen every once in a while growing up (I was mostly outside playing with my brothers :)) and listening to her tell me tips I use today when cooking.
So, we have the fabulous dinners my mother would make, but then there's coffee time. My dad calls it "trinken"; I'm not sure if that's German or not, but it sounds German to me. Coffee trinken is our afternoon treat that developed in our family far before I enjoyed it I'm sure. My dad would go to Lubby's cafeteria in Las Cruces to grade papers after school, and occasionally I got to join him for a cinnamon roll and red pen. So dad has been doing this coffee trinken forever, and it is now a staple meal for our family. It is important, and when we are all home together, we observe it.
I developed my own coffee time as a single and became addicted to coffee and a treat in the afternoon, but when I got pregnant I developed a serious aversion to coffee. Oh well, that was ok because I really didn't want sweets or coffee in my nauseous state. I had the baby; oh good! Now I can enjoy coffee. No. Caffeiene does a serious number to my milk supply, which is already low. Ok, maybe decaf? Nope, I can't have any caffeienated beverages. Alright, I can sacrafice and maybe have some herbal tea, but the whole point of my telling this story is that in this particular season of my life I don't have time to enjoy eating the way I once did. I used to love to prepare meals and sit down for my afternoon treat and read a little, but now our schedule doesn't allow for such frivolities. The time will come back around when I can sit down at the table and enjoy some coffee again, but right now I am slave to a different schedule, but not begrudgingly. I love Daniel so much and I can say that it is completely worth it, but this is just another example of how my expectations of being a mom were not accurate. How could they be, anyway?
Then there are those momemts where eating is just a task; I am so tired that I don't want to eat, but my body says I must. I never thought I would view eating as a chore to be done and not really want to do it....
These are some of Daniel's first attempts with food. He did great with his cereal, but we learned that frozen green beans don't make good baby food.
These are some of Daniel's first attempts with food. He did great with his cereal, but we learned that frozen green beans don't make good baby food.
