The Motherhood Diet

As I was sitting at the table eating plum skins today for breakfast I realized that my life had hit a new culinary low. Before the 9 month puke fest that is also known as my pregnancy began I had a great food life. Adam and I would eat out 5 nights per week at Manhattan's finest restaurants. It was so much fun and I can still remember some of the great meals.

Now, my diet pretty much consists of eating Henry's scraps. Before you start sending me checks, we do have the money for me to purchase real adult food. It just seems that feeding myself has become secondary to catering to Henry's various whims.

Take this morning for example. I don't wake up until Henry does, so I am on the go from the minute I open my eyes. I nurse him, change his diaper and then he plays for a few minutes. I put him in his highchair while I make his breakfast and he snacks on a few cheerios. Depending on his mood, he may or may not eat what I offer him. Recently he seems to be averse to eating white foods. Last week, no oatmeal or spoons. The week before? Cheese was king.

I am racing around the kitchen trying to get things in front of him before he explodes from being strapped down. I mixed his oatmeal into some yogurt because he won't eat it otherwise and he needs the iron. He took about 4 bites before clamping his mouth shut. So, I peeled him a plum. As he was eating that I was absentmindedly spooning baby oatmeal-yogurt into my mouth. As I was rinsing his dishes I realized that I was eating the skins from his plum. Now, we had a whole bowl of fruit sitting on the counter. Why didn't I eat something that still had actual fruit in the skin? Who knows, motherhood has made me nuts. I guess I was hungry.

I also eat lots of Gerber puffs, cheerios, cheese cubes and grape quarters. I am biting those into smaller pieces and feeding Henry at the same time. He is a bottomless pit for 1/4 sized grapes, but I am the one with the stomach ache. I realized how low I had sank recently when I realized that I was eating off of a padded baby spoon at a restaurant recently.