September 14, 2011

Wednesday Mind Dump

In my never ending quest to simplify our lives, we've recently implemented a meal plan in our house. Upon inspection of what we were actually spending on food each month, I found that we were basically throwing money down the drain. Every. Single. Month. Buying a ridiculous amount of snacks which resulted in my kids refusing meals. Only wanting to stuff their faces with crackers and cookies and chips. You get the picture. We were buying groceries and then instead of cooking them, eating out at the multiple little Mom and Pop restaurants within walking distance of home (the perks of living downtown!). Which I guess would be okay if we were rich, but unfortunately the Publisher's Clearinghouse has yet to knock on my door. 

So, before every payday (grocery shopping day) I create a menu with 14 days worth of meals and post it in the kitchen for all to see. And I shop accordingly. Do you know how absolutely fantastic it is to know exactly what you're going to cook for 14 days? To not have to play the "well what do you want to eat?" game? To know that your kids are getting home cooked meals every night? To know how much money you're saving by just taking the extra 30 minutes to cook? It's awesome. 

....

After writing that post about thinking about a fourth child, I've been doing a lot of reflecting on whether or not it's just a passing phase or if expanding our family one final time is really something I want to do. I've been talking about it. Putting pen to paper and doing the numbers. Imagining what obstacles another baby would present. (and the blessings!) Bringing it up in conversations with people, just to gauge reactions. They usually vary from..

"Of course you should have another one!" (Thanks Mom!)

to

"Well there goes your social life!" (What's a social life?)

to 

"Are you crazy?" (I thought that was well documented by now.)

to 

"You must like noise and chaos." (Very true.)

to

"Good luck with that, Michelle Duggar!" 

Not that I would ever make a decision on my fertility based upon some random person's idea of how many kids is too many. And why is it assumed that everyone must stop after 2? After having both a boy and girl? Why is it that we celebrate when a woman has two kids, but instantly judge when she has more than the norm? That's a concept I've never understood. 

So, what's your ideal number of children? What do you do on the meal front to save some moolah? 


7 comments:

  1. You need at least one more. When you make kids as cute as these, it would be a crime to stop at three. :)

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  2. I have always wanted 3. .given our situation, we will have to put more thought about 'how' we want to have the 3rd and really look at the future with the two we already have.
    Can you post a meal plan? We do that too, but I always like to see what someone else is cooking :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It doesn't matter what other people think. If you and your husband want to expand your family, then you should!

    I have two kiddies (both girls) but I want at least 5 kids. There's something comforting to me about having a big family.

    ReplyDelete
  4. When I got pregnant with my 3rd (which doesn't seem like that many to me?), I heard EVERY remark in the book! My least favorite was "Don't you know what causes that?"

    Also, I do the menu thing, too. It saves lots of money and sanity.

    PS...Your kids are lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Back in the day... before our fertility realities were faced... I always thought we'd have 3 "on purpose" and if a fourth came along then I would want to try for a fifth! No real reasoning behind it at all... just always what I had in my little mind's eye for our family:)

    But I'm with you. To each their own. Do what's best for you and yours! Your family is so beautiful!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Daire and I do the whole meal planning thing too. We were also wasting money and quite a bit for just two of us. Fruit and Veg going bad. Having to eat a surplus of sausage because it was the only thing left. Its harder now that we're both working, but we also have the option to have our groceries delivered with an online shop. So I think that will keep us from oogling the sale shelves and also buying plants we don't need, lol.

    As for the kid thing, well, you know we have none. However, I always believed 3 were ideal. I think that's mostly because my Mother gave birth to three (but I have 3 other siblings that she didn't). I will say, with the experience I do have, I will always remember loving having so many siblings with such a range in age. It was nice to always have someone there when none of your parents (real or step-parents) could stop arguing about something.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have four children, and they are the light of my life!!! Of course, with every child comes even more responsibility, but I say bring it on! Yes, children cost so much money, but that's why I save all the kids clothes, make menus, cut coupons, and anything else I need to do to save money.

    I too heard so many comments when I was pregnant with my 3rd, and then my 4th (and my last 3 are all 20 months apart). Everyone thought I was crazy, including my parents, but it is my personal preference, and I would love to have more, but I think I'll just stick with 4! : ) I say, the more the merrier, just think how full and happy your children will be growing up with all their siblings.

    ReplyDelete

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