Food fights

In our household food is the cause of everything, the mess, the arguments the happy moments. Low blood sugar after school is a huge problem. I should just have a juice box in the car when I have to pick the boys up.

The boys have been doing make up work after school or at least trying to. Connecting with the teachers has been an issue. Choose the wrong teacher on the wrong day and the teacher has already left the building or has meeting to attend. The bus has already left and so much for after school make ups.

I was running late on another errand when Trevor called saying they were ready. He cajoled me into meeting them at the store near the school so we could pick up some dinner. They really wanted a restaurant but I nixed that idea for financial reasons. We had just brought home Chinese the other night. Tom wanted enchiladas so we needed to get ground beef, small wraps, and sauce, and that special four mix Mexican cheese that just makes everything taste so authentic.

Riley tried to sneak a pumpkin pie and chocolate chip cookie mix into the cart. There were other things that had not been on the list that had been added. Some things like oranges and apples were on the healthy scale so I allowed them. I made Riley put back the pie and when he had his tantrum pouting all through the store, I made the cookie mix go away also. I told him if he was on honor roll he could get treats, no honor roll no treats. We stuck to healthy food. Oh, he was so mad at me. He gave me the stink eye all the way home. He sat in the car and refused to unload any groceries. Trevor and I ignored him and began fixing dinner.

Riley finally came into the house and made himself a bowl of soup from a can. I knew right away he had been hungry. Never go shopping when you are hungry or you end up with stuff you don't need like pumpkin pie and cookies. I should have given them a snack at the store before we shopped. Riley would have been more reasonable. He might have even been able to negotiate with me rather than fall into the cranky abyss of a hungry teen.

After the soup he lay down on the couch and took a nap. Right in the middle of all our activities. Trevor and I were trying to see if we could salvage the frame of an old style speaker. We are ditching the old speakers. Santa is probably getting his family a new surround sound system for Christmas. He has told us to toss the two foot tall speakers he has had since before we married. The wood frames of the speakers intrigued me. I thought maybe I could remove the guts and make shelves of them. I got out the tools and Trevor dismantled as much as he could. He ended up hammering out the glued in cover. We realized after bashing in the front that the speakers could not be recycled into book shelves and look nice. I took the pieces out to the garbage and tossed them.

Through all the hammering and discussion Riley slept on. He did not contribute to the conversation. He needed his nap, like a small child who can fall asleep under the table at a party, just wanting to be in the room. The tantrum was over with food and a nap.

The dog meanwhile, had not been fed. I turned around to see him leaping from the floor to a dining room chair and then on to the table to inspect the soup bowl Riley had left. I shrieked and grabbed the dog, putting him outside while I removed the temptation to the kitchen sink. I put dinner out for the dog, bringing him in from the cold, and everyone was happy.

When Riley woke from his nap he helped brown the meat for dinner. Since Trevor had been doing all the chores earlier without complaint, I felt having Riley help with dinner was a nice compromise. You can't get out of chores Scott free because you have a temper tantrum and a pout. In a happy mood, or at least not disgruntled mood anymore, Riley was much more manageable and compliant. Of course after dinner he couldn't resist asking what was for dessert.

I told him "Get your grades up and you can have pumpkin pie." He crinkled up his nose at me. The boys need their grades up before next week. I would hate to be going into the holidays with bad grades. Bad grades puts me in a bad mood. Trevor is really trying hard. I can't tell with Riley. Riley doesn't study at home. He has always used his time efficiently at school. I wish he socialized more, but he spends his time at the library reading.

Trevor informed me he needs more lunch money. I thought he was getting his lunches free. He has been buying snacks and breakfast with his lunch money. I am not sure how I want to handle the situation. The idea has been I was going to put his saved lunch money in the bank, while he worked in the cafeteria, but he is eating more than just lunch. We will have to sit down and discuss his eating. I figure if it is healthy food that is one thing, but if it is gator aide and cookies, I am not going to fund that kind of food. I can see another food fight brewing.