Is This Appropriate Family Fun?

On Saturday evening I took my son to a splash park operated by a City of Dallas rec center that is near our house. While I understand this is "free family fun," I was appalled at what I saw. One woman had on a white t-shirt with no bra and was frolicking around in the water. While my two-year-old didn't notice a thing, but every other person could clearly see her large breasts through the shirt. Children were playing in the water with just a diaper or in all their clothes.

Seriously, can't we show some public respect and dress appropriately? Swimsuits (and swim diapers) required would be a nice start. While I also realize it would require manpower to patrol the splashparks, having some kind of code of conduct (that could be checked at any time by a staff member) seems warranted. Isn't this how diseases and illness get spread. I'm sure the nasty diapers are a cause.

Needless to say, I was disappointed with this experience and it did not make me proud to live in the City of Dallas. Next time we'll go to Plano or Frisco.

Meal Planning is Harder Than it Appears

For the first time in my life, I made a weekly meal plan. The main objective is to control my personal eating (stop eating so much sugar) and have three meals and two snacks a day. The other important piece is to appropriately plan meals for my son and me so I'm not tempted to swing through the drive through which is not healthy for either of us.

I did some quick online research to find a menu planning document that would work for me . After pulling a few, I decided to create my own (thanks to the project girl for the inspiration). I liked the concept of having the weekly menu at the top, then having the grocery list at the bottom organized by section of the grocery store. Hopefully the menu won't get messed up during my trip to the store. I might cut off the list section to avoid that.

It took over an hour last night to plot out all the meals and ensure I was getting the right amount of protein, veggies and fruit. That was absolutely the most difficult part as I'm not a gourmet chef so am limited in what I can confidently prepare. Once I had all the meals written into in my menu today, I received my son's school menu via email (somewhat perfect timing). So I had to re-arrange a couple of days so he didn't overdose on green beans one day and chicken the next. Overall, I'm happy with the end result even if it is going to require some serious homework every week.

Day One of the new menu starts Sunday. I'm nervous about this commitment.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I took a little bit of a break from blogging even though I haven't been blogging for long. Why? I have no idea. I'm not making excuses, but I have a lot to do with work and home. I think part of it was the uncertainty about what I really wanted to write about. But it seems a lot has happened in the last month.

The American Academy of Pediatrics approved swimming lessons for children under the age of 4. My son started swim lessons at 2, and I had no idea this wasn't "approved." The hot weather meant stories about children being left in the car and dying because of the heat started in the media. I constantly have a sick feeling thinking about leaving my son in the car in the Texas heat. Autism Awareness Month brought the topic of development disabilities into the national spotlight in a big way.

So, time to get back to writing about what's touching my life.