Eddie Haskell and the Menu this Week

As I explained in an earlier post, we keep trying to make the kids play in their playroom, which is located in the basement. I organized and decorated (kid-friendly-like) the place, moved their toys down there, moved their art supplies down there, bought them a great art table for down there...and they have largely ignored it.  They don't want to play in the basement.

Why, you may ask (well, if nothing else, I have asked)?  The first answer I got was that all the toys they liked were upstairs in the living room.  Wrong! I moved all the best toys downstairs.  Then they said, "We don't like going down there." I explained that, when they had friends over, everyone thought it was the coolest place to be.  They explained that that was true when friends were over, but not when it's just them. I explained that it has windows, it's bright yellow, it's a happy place.  They respectfully disagreed.

Now, before I give you the third explanation I got, from D, let me give you a bit of background information about D.  For those of you old enough to remember Leave it to Beaver, D is Eddie Haskell.  As in, he would say, "What a lovely dress you're wearing, Ms. Cleaver," just before having to explain how he ran Wally and the Beav off a cliff or something.  D is a bit like that.  For example, when he wants dessert after dinner, he tells me how this was the best dinner ever, how I'm the best mommy ever, etc.  He also comes up with funny (and clever - but don't tell him that) explanations when he doesn't want to do something.  For example, we had chicken the other night.  He didn't want to eat it.  So he said, "Mom, you know, I just feel sorry for the chicken.  I mean, poor guy - he's dead."  So much for eating the chicken.

Now back to the basement... D then came up with this story: "Mom, I had the worst nightmare about going in the basement.  It was about me going down there just with M, so I can't go down there anymore."  To which M added, "Yeah, a nightmare.  Terrible."  Playing me like the Stradivarius I am.

So I have pretty much failed at this point.  This was confirmed today, when they started bringing toys back up from the basement.  First, Green Lantern's plane (innocent enough, fairly small).  Then the whole freakin' Bat Cave, the batcopter, the Iron Man race car and the associated super heroes.  They are all lying on the floor in the middle of my (newly-cleaned) living room...mocking me.

I'm about to surrender, honestly.  I could just bring the toys back upstairs ... so then at least it's on my terms.  They get organized in baskets and put away and it won't be so bad.  But then they win.  I don't want them to win.  I win.  That was my understanding when I became a parent... parents get to win.  Why am I not winning this one?

Radically changing the topic... here is my menu this week - sorry I'm late (again), but it's Passover this week and I'm trying to be creative so that we can have healthy and filling meals without the bread-like-substances.  So here it is:

Monday:  Yummy Passover leftovers (matzo ball soup, brisket, charoses, yum).

Tuesday: Lemon chicken with artichokes (so good, combining three recipes in one. I can post the recipe if you want - lemme know!), quinoa, and broccoli.

Wednesday:  Tacos!

Thursday:  Not sure yet...maybe matzo brei (breakfast for dinner).  Would it be wrong to serve it with bacon?  I digress...

Friday:  Dear Husband in charge b/c I have a work thing.

Thoughts on the basement debacle always appreciated.  Sigh.