Feeding my own crew is very similar to meeting the needs of a variety of learners in the classroom (which I’ve been doing for 21 years). I can differentiate the heck outta any meal thanks to the proficient verbal skills of my children. Teachers know it’s simply easier to be at school than to write sub plans due to both time and precise instructions needed to fill their void. And while I can write a master sub plan for the classroom, I’m not sure I could write a Grub Plan detailing the needs of my own children’s stomachs.

Three meals a day times the selective eating of three children equals nine different meals per day. Please remember to factor in the late night practices when we become Hobbits and add “Second Dinner” served around 8:30 pm with a side of exhaustion. Then, there are school lunches, after school snacks, and my favorite, the bedtime snack. I take great pride in meal planning and meal prepping just as much as I enjoy watching them eat the food I’ve prepared, but the fact of the matter is, I’m always in the kitchen!

I remember the days when they were itsy bitsy, and my husband and I would want to travel alone. Writing a lesson plan for Grandma was always so detailed especially when it came to meal time and bed time. I always knew our mothers were laughing at the length of my plans because they were going to do what they wanted to do. In my absence, things were going to run smoothly, so basically, the plans were more for me than for Grandma!

Thank goodness they’re old enough to tell me exactly what they want, how they want it, when they want it, and why they don’t like it!