On Friday morning, I left DS at the kitchen table with a coloring book and some sliced apples for a snack while I took a quick shower. When I came back to check on him, I found this:

Yes, that is a pile of skinless apple slices among the crayons. No, I did not peel the apple before it was sliced.

My child actually ONLY eats the apple skin and then discards the rest of the fruit as trash (or into his crayon pile, in this case). How weird is that? If you give him a whole apple, he will literally eat every single bit of “red” off it and then throw the rest away. He also eats the crust first on his sandwiches.

I thought kids were supposed to want the skin cut off of their apples and the crust cut off of their sandwiches! Color me confused. Please tell me that my child is not the only one who has such weird eating habits.

P.S. In the above picture, do you see the round wax object on top of the purple crayon? That was one of DS’s Valentine’s gifts that he got at preschool last year. One of the moms actually melted a bunch of crayons and then used a cookie cutter to make them into multi-colored heart shaped crayons. Do you see what I have to compete with?

P.P.S. There’s now a Living with Lindsay fan site on Facebook! I haven’t told anyone about it, so there is only one fan – my good friend Angry Julie. Go and join the fan site, or else Julie is going to be even Angrier than she already is (and you seriously don’t want to see that…trust me).

Today signals the day we begin thinking about the pressing issues that weigh on the hearts and minds of mothers all across our country.  I’m talking about Valentine’s Day treats to send to preschool.

Last year, my sweet son, Zack, started preschool in January. For Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be oh-so cute to send little valentines from him to his classmates. They had all just turned 2 years old, and I thought I was being so cute and clever. I mean, Valentines! From a 2 year old! How adorable!

I let Zack pick out his very own box of perforated valentines at the grocery store. He picked out Tonka trucks, as he was obsessed with “diggies” at the time. I addressed them to all his little buddies and even put stickers on them! I was such a cool mom…and apparently very naive in the ways of stay-at-home moms of preschoolers.

Imagine my surprise when I show up at school and see treats. Lots of treats. HANDMADE Valentines and baked treats for every 2 year old in the class…FROM EVERY OTHER MOTHER in the class!! I, Lindsay, seamstress and crafter and decorator and DIYer, was outdone in every way possible.

Touché, my friends.

You better believe that I’m not going to let it happen again this year. I’m WAY too competitive for that. So, I’ve already been scowering the Internet and my magazines for some cute ideas. So far, I’ve found:

Passion Pops from Parents Magazine

Love-Bug Cupcakes from Parents Magazine

Heart-and-Lollipop Flowers from MarthaStewart.com

Heart Bookmark from MarthaStewart.com
(no tutorial was given, but it looks fairly easy to put together)