Recently, my friend Bianca (a mother of four like me) said something that gave me a good chuckle: “It seems that half my life is spent dealing with food -- planning for it, shopping for it, fixing it and cleaning up after it.”

I laughed. And then I stopped laughing. Because, wow, she’s right.

In fact, I think the only thing she left off her insightful statement was the other big one: budgeting for it.

I’ve always thought of myself as a frugal shopper. I buy generic whenever possible, and I steer clear of expensive cuts of meat. While I think the idea of organic vegetables is a nice one, in reality, the price tag is too hefty for this family of six. I plan ahead on meals, and I even make special trips to Aldi when I have the chance.

But especially as my kids (and their appetites) are growing, I find myself operating with a nagging sense that I’m not maximizing my grocery budget. I feel like I’m missing something -- surely there must be a more economical way to feed this family.

Lately Magoo’s been teaching us a lot. He watches Dinosaur Train on PBS and then quizzes us on the food preferences of the various extinct species. He likes to teach me -- repeatedly -- to count to 10 using his fingers, toes, sticks and whatever else is available. He feels it imperative that I learn this important math skill. I’m not sure quite how to prove to him that I’ve pretty much mastered it already.

But his lessons are not always just about facts. Sometimes they’re about lifestyle and behavior.

I am not an idiot.

I mean, I may have some bouts of momnesia every now and then, and my math skills may be a little questionable sometimes, and, admittedly, my geography kinda sucks…but still, with almost 41 years under my belt, a bachelor’s degree, and a thriving writing career, I assure you, I’m no dummy.

Now can someone please tell this to my 10-year-old? Because my Mari’s under the impression that she’s actually smarter than me.

Mari

No matter how much they’ve snarked and quarreled during the day, my kids band together at night, the two of them against the two of us, the two of them against sleep, sanity, and reason. They have things to do in the night, games to play, and often, heads to be bonked.

Sometimes the shenanigans are spontaneous, but other times they require more careful planning and accompanying subterfuge.

Have you seen all the cute craft projects people are doing lately using old newspapers, drink-containers, plastic bags, and other trash? I love the creativity that goes into these projects and it’s fun to think that they’re made with items that would otherwise be thrown out or put through the long and resource-intensive process of recycling.

Laylee’s fascinated by this too, always talking about the virtues of the 3-Rs -- reduce, reuse, and recycle. When I was napping this afternoon she went to the recycle bin and got to work, rescuing every item and putting them to use, creating magical and useful items which I came down and found spread throughout the house.