Spring Miscellany - Sara Rolfs at Grinnin' Meadows

Spring has definitely sprung in the Wenatchee Valley.  This means it's time to get busy in your garden if you haven't already.  Here's a list of information that I find pertinent and might be useful:

Average last freeze  April 11           Average last frost    April 24

Plant root crops the last quarter of the moon, leafy crops between the first quarter & the full moon

Locally, potatoes are traditionally planted the week of Easter, tomatoes the week of Apple

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Holidays have become my culinary crutch

I use to find this time of year especially challenging for cooking:  Highlighting the fresh goodness of the last of the harvest is long under frost and snow; The novelty of cold weather comfort food (soups, roasts, heavy on the everything dishes) is getting a little old and my waistline a little bulgy; Trying to keep a balanced diet through all the holiday parties and changing of routine.  My creative juices just seem to hibernate.

SO, the Holidays have become my crutch.  Take the week between December 6th and the 13th.  There are at least 3 holidays in that time period:  St. Nicholas Day - Dec 6th, Hannukkah starting

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How much is enough?

The other day my kids & I were sifting through our winter clothing - this was not only the seasonal round- up, it was going to be a purge. This purge had meaning: my kids school is gathering too small hats & mittens to give to the EPIC/Head Start program. We made piles of mittens and hats that were too small and piles of ones that still fit. The nice pile of ones to pass on gave me a warm fuzzy. However, getting ready to put the hats and gloves into their respective bins, I realized we still had a lot. I asked my 5 year old, "Do you think you really need 6 hats?" Yep, just like the little booties or the first Easter dress, either Freya or I had emotional attachments to 6 of her hats:

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Coddling, lying, race and siblings

Praising your kid may be harmful, get your kid more sleep, all of your kids are lying to you, why white parents don't talk about race, and why your child that is always negotiating and arguing is actually respecting you!

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Starting Preschool

As much as I thought I was prepared for my youngest to start preschool, I was wrong. I knew I would be a little emotional about it, but not to the extent that I'm feeling it. Tag, my 3 year old, is having a difficult time too. His expressing his frustration and anxiety about it on the stairs leading into the building. I haven't had the heart to just pick him up, plop him in there and leave. I know this is what ought to be done, I've done it with babysitters before, I told friends to 'just leave' when they were leaving their little bits with me, but I haven't been able to do it this time around. I justify not doing it as I don't want him to associate negative feelings with school. Who am I really trying to fool? Myself, obviously. He knows it too!

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