The care and feeding of athletes

I want to take a minute and send out a huge Thank You to the editors at WordPress.com for featuring my At the Table post on Freshly Pressed, and to all of you who read and commented.  Thank you.  Sincerely.  That post stimulated serious discussion about mealtime in our home.  After reading through all of your comments, we were heartened by the recurring positive feedback about sharing meals:

You know which parents still have relationships with their teens? You guessed it, the one’s who take the time to cook delicious food. – Architect of the Jungle

We have a teenage friend who has just headed off to university. He said before he went that he had the best parents *for him*… I asked him what they did that was so special.  Dinners round the table.  Every night they could. – Not Quite 40

My favourite memories growing up are all 7 of us sitting down to eat dinner together. We spent quality time with each other during those times and some of the best and most honest conversations between parents, siblings and children occurred at that table. – Daile

In the days following the post, we had family pow-wows, at the dinner table, discussing food options and how we can make healthy, homemade dinners work with the scheduling, time, and palate pressures that our family (and every family) faces.  In an effort to eliminate the strain and dishload of multiple dinners at dinnertime, my husband and I asked the kids about their favorite meals, and about which foods they absolutely could not stomach (ie – which ones made them gag), and we wrote them on a list.  We did the same for ourselves.  Then, because of family histories of high cholesterol and high blood pressure, we went through our current menu rotation and ruthlessly cut high-fat meals, no matter how easy they are to make or how delicious they are.  Finally, since nearly every slow cooker meal had been eliminated either by gag factor or health risk, I looked at our list and asked, “How can these be made on sports nights?” And then I had a mini-breakdown.

My breakdown is a perfect time to address the very valid question that came up a couple of times in the comments on my first post: Why do this to yourself?  Why not “decide what is most important and then put your foot down. You are not your children’s employees and not attending group sports will not doom them to an unproductive life.” (All Thoughts Work Outdoors) That comment and another – one about living in the modern times of over scheduling our children – really made me think about our involvement in sports and after school activities, and made me ask, why do we do this?

And the simple answer, even thought it’s not the easiest one, is that both sports and eating together are important to us.  My husband and I schedule our own workouts in the same way that we make time for meals and our daily showers.  If we don’t, our mental health deteriorates, our self-esteem decays.  We get grumpy.  Exercise is as crucial to our well being as food and hygiene.  Likewise, our kids love their sports.  They love when their coaches help them tweak their breathing in swimming, or teach them to finesse the soccer ball.  They love using their bodies, honing their motor skills, feeling the power and strength inside themselves.  They love having teammates who share their love of sport, and we like that they have another nurturing adult relationship in their lives, with their coaches.

So when I broke down, feeling like I had to start all over with the family menus, my husband dried my tears and helped me fill in what was really just a couple of blanks.  Because given the trouble that even adults have with fitting exercise into their already hectic lives, and then deciding there’s no time for it, so they leave it out all together, we both think it’s worth it now to figure out solutions that allow for sports and healthy eating in our children’s lives.

We came up with three weeks worth of meals that will be served to the entire family, with no extra side dishes when someone doesn’t like the entree we’ve prepared.  Dinner is dinner, and we are trying for the first time to really stick with that – eat what you’re served or go hungry.  Meals on sports night can be prepped ahead of time and then cooked when we walk in the door, while the kids are cleaning up after practice.

Week One
Monday (swim): Sesame chicken w brocolli & carrots, rice
Tuesday (soccer): Ground turkey tacos (crock pot), fresh salsa, lettuce, avocado
Wednesday (swim): Pasta with canned salmon, Parmesan, frozen peas
Thursday (soccer): Takeout
Friday: Pan-fried talapia with angel hair pasta, shredded Parmesan, green beans with almonds
Saturday: Meatloaf, chick peas with lemon & basil, salad
Sunday: special day*

Week Two
Monday (swim): Sesame pork w rice, peas, carrot salad, chick peas w lemon & basil
Tuesday (soccer): Chicken tacos (crock pot), fresh salsa, lettuce, avocado
Wednesday (swim): Pasta with fish & white beans, salad
Thursday (soccer): Takeout
Friday: Salmon with honey and basil, roasted veg salad with goat cheese
Saturday: Crockpot chili (w ground turkey or vegetarian), cornbread
Sunday: special day*

Week Three
Monday (swim): Chicken stir fry with cashews
Tuesday (soccer): Fajitas or bean tacos, fresh salsa, lettuce, avocado
Wednesday (swim): Pasta fresca with ravioli
Thursday (soccer): Takeout
Friday: Smoked salmon w cream cheese & capers, bruschetta & crostini, fruit
Saturday: Burgers, baked beans, roasted veg salad with goat cheese
Sunday: special day*

I know many families struggle with dinner time, so I thought I’d share what we came up with.  I get bored with our foods after a while, and am always looking for more options, so please feel free to share or link to your favorite meals or menu rotations in the comments.  Thank you again for your encouragement and your questioning, and wish us luck!

*Each weekend, one of us is the lucky recipient of the special day.  On a person’s special day, in addition to getting to choose the dinner menu and a dessert, the special person also gets to choose a family activity.  This motivates my husband and me to set aside a chore-free, errand-free time for the four of us to hang out, and it has been a huge hit with the kids.  They’ve had a lot of fun trying new foods, hiking the Dragon’s Tooth for Dad, listening to live bluegrass at the Floyd Country Store for me, and especially, not having to go to Home Depot or the shoe store when it’s their turn to be special.   I highly recommend it.