Dinner_Conundrum_IMG_9342I don’t usually do a mid-day, non-what-we-had-for-dinner post, but I think this situation warrants it. We have a dinner conundrum.

As you might know, Rose is quite passionate about gymnastics. This week, she was invited to move to a more rigorous training schedule. It’s wonderful news because she’s really been wanting a promotion, and she works so hard, and is so in love with the sport. But it totally messes with things, dinner-wise.

Twice a week she’ll be finishing gymnastics at 7:30pm (we’re angling to change it to 7:00, but still). After which we’ll have to drive home, find parking (at a more challenging time than the previous 6:00pm), have dinner, shower, pajamas, teeth, read(?), and get Rose in bed. All of this needs to be completed by 8:30pm.

Oh shit.

I was already worried about how the new addition would impact our family dinners, but this is a whole new can of challenge. Also, Shane has physical therapy until 7:15pm, three times per week, for the foreseeable future. Having him get dinner ready isn’t an option either.

What we really need is staff. We can’t afford staff, so I guess the next best thing would be a plan. A good plan.

I am not, in general, a planner-aheader but that might need to change. What I’ve decided to try is creating a weekly dinner menu, ahead of time. Next week is our first week on the new schedule.

So far I have this:
Monday – Make-ahead meal & CSA veggies
Tuesday – Chicken & CSA veggies
Wednesday – Coffee shop – call ahead so we don’t have to wait?
Thursday – Something (new?) that can be prepped ahead of time (CSA pickup night) & CSA veggies
Friday – Steak & CSA veggies

I hope you’ll check back to see how it all pans out. I figure if we can make this work, we can handle having another kid around. Hopefully.

As always, suggestions are welcome!
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