Boy's Brains

Reading is established.  TV is gone.  Next on my list is diet.  We eat pretty well and I cook and bake a lot, but we aren't eating half enough fruit and vegetables.  It's true that in an incredible display of self-denial (I do like to draw as much attention to this as possible)  I no longer crave coke, but I haven't replaced it with water either.  I really, really, really need to do that.  After years of believing that the organic movement is mainly the result of overreaction (I mean, really...  REALLY???  our food sources are THAT unsafe?)  Well, through some online investigation and having lived out here and made choices to produce as much food as possible using the most natural processes possible I am starting to realize that I believe that a lot of the food we eat is contaminated and rendered (in many cases) unhealthy by the way we produce it or the methods by which we produce it.  I'm not going to go 100% organic.  But I am switching to organic dairy, locally raised (happy!!) salad bar beef and as much organic fruits and vegetables as I can afford.  I am considering a milking cow.  Yup.  A.  Milking.  Cow. (Don't tell my friend Jennifer.)

Food

I was sure I had blogged about this, but I can't find it so I'm going to risk a double entry because I'm afraid if I don't write it down I'll forget it.  Terry came up with this notion one day and I think it's brilliant AND I have tested it and it WORKS.  Teenaged boys only have about 3 things consistently on their minds  (I won't actually mention them ALL, don't worry...)  BUT  ONE of them is food.  They are obsessed with food.  (This isn't the big THING... hold on, I'm getting there.)  How I didn't think of this before because it really is obvious :  THAT'S  how you keep them engaged.  FOOD.  Specifically, Terry and I think that it really has to be achieved through home cooked meals.  Cook it, and they will come.  And they will stay for seconds.  AND they will engage.  There will be banter.  There will be family time.  And sometimes, they will slip up and say something that has not been censored by their auto-censoring ability and you learn something new about them.  Oh, dessert (or at the very least : cookies) are a must.