Lazy parenting

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I used to be "that mum". The one that cooks everything from scratch. Everything. Right down to making my own tomato / pasta sauces and muesli bars.
The Boy was always super healthy. Rarely even a cold. The Girl was less than 8 weeks old when I left.

Since leaving ex and the fallout that followed, I've gotten slack. Tired. Dare I admit it - Lazy. Anything to give me one more night of not having to cook for the little monsters, while acting as personal security for the toddler and trying not to lose my shit while the 5 year old pretends he can't read the first page of the same book he read fluently yesterday.

So do I let The Boy drown his dinner in tomato sauce because "that's what daddy does"? Anything to stop the whinging and make him eat his bloody frozen fish portion.

Do I buy supermarket lasagne instead of homemade? Hell yes!

Do I feed them tinned spaghetti for dinner 3 nights in a row some weeks? Yeah sure, whatever. Sometimes they even get toast with it. Because at the end of the day they're fed, happy and I can put them to bed before I collapse.

Their diet isn't terrible, they still have loads of fruit, veg and grains, but there is a substantial amount of crap mixed in there too.

Around the same time I started cutting corners, The Boy began picking up every bug he came in contact with. It's not quite so bad now, maybe one or two colds every couple of months. He did also start going to day care around the same time, so maybe that's all it is, but he did go to playgroup and MOPS while I was feeding him the "healthier" diet too. So I'm not sure- do they cancel each other out? I have no idea.

I do know, however, that I certainly don't have the energy just yet to go back to my old habits. I'm flat out keeping on top of the most basic housework/ parenting jobs and remembering to buy bread so the kids have lunch the next day.Making that ice cream for desert most nights of the week, that puts a smile on my normally, very anxious little boys face, completely worth it.

But you know what? I don't even feel guilty- well.. Maybe a bit, because I've just realised it might be making them more susceptible to illness... Other than that though, I just could not give a fuck. Partially because I'm just too tired to care and partially because, if what The Boy is telling me about his visits at Daddy's house are true, then no amount of strict healthy eating is going to offset all the pizza, McDonalds and lollies he's receiving over there, so why stretch myself beyond my limits?

As for the kids? Well they seem pretty pleased with it all...



%matterhatter