You’re driving a racecar, with one kid up front squeaking the horn while the other reaches for the butterscotch pudding.

When you think about it, so much of life revolves around earning money and spending money. The funny thing is, it’s often the spending part that takes the most thought.

My third daughter is a drinker. Her favorite beverage is chocolate milk, but she drinks all sorts of stuff—juice, Gatorade, fruit punch, and even water. All you have to do is hand her a glass and she’ll guzzle it down. But eating is a completely different story. She’ll tell you she’s hungry; she’ll even tell you what she wants, but she’ll barely touch it once she has it.

I remember lying in my bed one Christmas Eve staring at the ceiling with jittery butterflies in my stomach—the aroma of apple pie and English toffee still wafting through the house. Some time around midnight, I finally drifted into a fitful sleep only to awake again at 4:00—still too early, but closer. For some reason, I decided to sing myself to sleep by chanting 4:03. By 4:04, I had woken my older brother and, well,
let's just say all wasn’t calm.

I hated waiting.

When you’re cooking a meal, if food is out, your kids will come in and pick at it. There’s no way to avoid it, and it takes more than a couple “it’s not ready yet-” or “you’ll spoil your appetite” -s to deter a hungry family. No time is this particularly difficult for children then during the several hours prior to a large holiday feast...

If you watch TV, you’ve probably seen public service announcements about how much fun it is to cook with your kids, especially during the holidays. They tout benefits such as helping them to eat healthier, giving them life skills, and making their lives more interesting, all while smiling kids stand in their position next to their happy parent, patiently waiting their turn to stir the brownie mix.

The other day, I sent one of my kids to bed mad at me. She wanted ice cream before bed. I said it was too late for ice cream. She said I had promised.

Had I?

I did a quick inventory of the statements I had made that evening and realized I had whispered something about ice cream to my wife, "If they hurry with their jobs tonight maybe we can give them a dish of ice cream." They hadn't hurried, it was late, and it was a school night. So she was upset-a clear indication that she was over-tired.

Cooking with the help of my kids has proven to be a bit of a problem because they suddenly realized all the healthy food substitutions I was hiding in plain sight (turkey instead of ground hamburger, squash and oatmeal thrown in several dishes). The older kids still don’t fully approve, but my younger kids seem to be ok with it once I explained it as using a “secret ingredient.”

I've been saying I'm going to do it for months. And this week, I finally did. It seems a little silly to be making such a big deal, BUT ... I took advantage of my grocery store's shop-for-you service.