Actual conversations with Nana:

Nana: Would the girls like some scrambled eggs?
Me: Oh, thanks, but we ate before coming over.
Nana: How about some fruit?
Me: No, thank you.
Nana: Cereal?

I look over to Megan, who is smiling and shaking her head.

Nana: Toast?
Me: They're fine, really.
Nana: (Quieter) Pancakes?

I'm starting to understand why Nana loves to feed her grandchildren. Early on, after the girls graduated from bottles, the rice cereal phase was followed by the testing of solid foods, which was followed by the get-them-to-eat-vegetables phase. Feeding them was part of the work it takes to care for a child. But now that they're a little bit older, I can discover and create new meals for them, and I've found that feeding a child is just an extension of loving a child.

Nana: French toast? ... read more >>

THE LONG DRIVE

My family and I recently had the occasion to drive most of the length of the North Island, returning home from visiting the relatives. It was a landmark journey - the first long haul car trip undertaken with James, whose toddlerish exuberance is still peaking.

Toddlers aren't meant to sit down for extended periods of time - it is hotwired into their developing brains to runjumpbouncecrawlswingplayshout, not sitsitsitsitsit. So the aim of the game was keeping the small person happy and by extension, us. This wasn’t just pure altruism at work either; we wanted to get to the end in one piece. Avoiding minor catastrophes in the back seat was going a long way towards avoiding a major catastrophe on the road. So we thought it out, took all those incremental lessons learnt from short trips and rolled them together into one big ball of diversionary tactics designed to get the most out of the journey for James and us. Here's what we learnt: ... read more >>

I've just come across "Burnt Chop Syndrome", which I had no idea existed as a phrase for something I have observed for years with my own mum. As a vegetarian it's all dutch to me of course but BCS refers to a tendency of mums to leave the worst for last (for herself) to make sure the rest of the family is alright. Well - the expression "burnt chops" is a bit dated, isn't it. For starters all chops these days look burnt anyway (given the high water content of mass produced meat). So we need a new name for the phenomenon. ... read more >>

Here's a cool dad thing to do - cook some food for your kids! The following recipes will work for babies and toddlers form 6 months onwards.

Mince

1 small carrot, peeled and grated
1/2 kumara, peeled and grated
1 tsp of oil
100g lean beef or lamb mince
1/2 cup beef or vegetable stock
1 tbsp of tomato puree

Mircowave or boil carrot and kumara in a little water until soft. Heat oil in a frying pan, add mince and stir well breaking up with the back of a spoon as it cooks until it forms small pieces about the size of a pea. Add carrot, kumara and stock. Cover and simmer until the meat and vegetables are tender, about10 minutes. ... read more >>