Pantry Living 5th Year Running

 I hope you’re as excited as I am. I think my hubby is most excited for my credit card to collect dust. My amazing hubby shapes minds and behavior as a Special Education Self-Contained Behavior Teacher for 10 months of the year. He just completed his 6th year at this school, and this is our 5th Summer in our beautiful home. Since beginning this journey 5yrs ago we’ve added a 4th child and a dog. We are happy and healthy and blessed with enough. But summer’s are difficult because despite teaching a summer program the teacher’s salary is only a 10 month contract. His district does not offer a 12 month option. I started Pantry Living to help us through July and August. It can be tricky, but I think it is a fun challenge.

So here are my self imposed rules

• Live off my pantry stores and my freezer
• No grocery shopping
• Allowable purchases with a credit card: Dairy, eggs, bread, produce
• Any other purchases must be made with cash (I have a small stash I squirrelled away.)
• Start Date: David’s 1st day of summer vacation
• End Date: David’s 1st day of school in September (usually 12 weeks)

We begin our journey with

• 55 boxes of unopened cereal
• 16 boxes of pasta
• 11 jars of spaghetti sauce
• 8 bags of flour
• 6 giant tubs of peanut butter
• 63 rolls of toilet paper (this won’t be enough I predict)

Pantry on June 22nd!

I don’t stock up a ton in June. That would defeat the purpose. I try to space out my shopping all year, shop sales, and keep a good food supply as a just in case. When cereal is on a good sale I buy 6 boxes instead of 2. I buy meat in bulk on sale and then bag it and freeze it in our family serving size.  I inventoried our pantry, and our freezer, and our bathroom closet. My goal is to finish the summer without breaking my rules, without running out of cash, and to have fun!

My garden is growing! This year I’m growing cucumbers, volunteer zucchini, bush green beans, and two kinds of tomatoes. I’ve already successfully killed all my herbs. I had cilantro, basil and oregano.

Wish us luck!

Happy Summer!

My son is a loser, and that's ok with me.

My son is 7yrs old and is one of the best humans ever. He is smart. He is funny. He makes friends easily and he enjoys playing soccer. In the fall season his soccer team had 15 players that regularly showed up. He would not usually start the game, but would sub in and play about half of the time. They had a winning record. He learned many basic skills and enjoyed practice.

Spring season rolled around and he asked to play again. At the first practice there were about 7 boys. At the first game there were 6. His second game came along and they had to forfeit because only 5 players showed up. The other team had 14 so they shared a few players and they enjoyed a scrimmage. This spring season has been tough to watch. A few games were lost by 7 goals. My son played goalie a few of those times. Baseball and Lacrosse are more popular in our town this season and that is ok. My son’s team has lost every game, and that is also ok.  Learning to lose gracefully will help him. I keep my son in soccer for him to learn.

My hope is my son learns to be a good loser. That he learns to love his body and wants to keep it healthy. My hope is my children understand different sports and learn to follow rules. That they figure out strategy and teamwork. What I want my son to learn is not how to win. I don’t care if he ever wins. I realized long ago my kids probably won’t be olympic athletes. My kids won’t be movie stars. My kids are pretty average and that is ok because most people won’t win a gold medal or an oscar award. But most people will be employed someday. Most people will be married and have children.

My son is technically a loser but he never shies away from attending his games or practices. After practice I ask what he learned and if he enjoyed it. After each loss my only question is “Did you play your best?” As long as he can honestly answer yes I’m happy. I’m the mom who thinks kids younger than high school should receive a participation award. It is hard work to win, but it is hard to show up when you know you’re likely to lose. Most will lose and that is ok when you’re 7. Let’s teach our kids that losing isn’t the end. Cheer for the kid who scored a goal even if it was your son that missed the save. It might be that kids’ first goal ever. Congratulate the other team on their hussle. And thank the coach and refs. Let’s teach our kids what sports are really about.

My son is amazing and works hard. My son loves to play soccer. My son feels disappointed when the other team scores, but my son plays his best and that is a win enough for me.