I was online the other night participating in a Twitter party. The topic of discussion was food – kiddo food, healthy snacks, on-the-go foods, etc.

Since I’m not a big foodie type, I didn’t think I’d have much to contribute to the conversation. My kids eat well, but I’m not a health nut and don’t spend hours in the kitchen creating beautiful meals for my family. In short, my kids have not had a Twinkie-free existence and occasionally they have had frozen meatballs for dinner – still frozen. Two nights in a row.

But as the chit-chat went on and people were exchanging stories about weird food their kids love and delicious food their kids hate, I discovered I did have some interesting things to say. I made some valuable contributions including:

- One kid of mine has a favourite snack that is horribly embarrassing to admit. In fact, when I tell people what it is, they throw up a little in their mouths. My kid loves hot dogs but in the form of a cold wiener straight from the fridge. Just gagged while writing that.

- Another kid loves avocado with a squeeze of lemon. I don’t think I had avocado until I was about 30-years-old. In my humble upbringing, we would have called avacados “fancy food”!

- My kids and all of their cousins have the same favourite fruit called “sour apple”. It is sliced apple in a bowl, drenched in lemon juice.

- The one food I can serve up that each kid will eat without complaint is pesto on pasta. Now, it’s interesting to note that they actually make the pesto. They plant the basil in the backyard and when pesto making day is upon us, they pick the basil and go shopping for the other ingredients. This begs the question – is there a connection between kids being involved in their food and liking their food?

A strange food fact about me also made its way into the conversation, leaving people shocked and horrified. What is this shocking food news? I’ve never had a milkshake. Ever. Not once in my 39 years of life.

So go on – what creepy, weird food does your kid like? Or, have you reached the age of 40 and never tried sushi or tasted kiwi fruit? The best thing that came out of this whole Twitter party food chat is all the milkshakes I’ve had promised to me in the last few days!

You spoke and thankfully, I listened.

To all of you who commented with moving advice on my blog post over at www.thebabymachine.com – if I could reach through this computer screen and give you a big squeezy hug, I would. I owe you my sanity. What those comments confirmed was that if you want the very best advice – go straight to the mamas.

There is no question, the move day was a monster – 13 hours of non-stop action, cardboard boxes galore and the odd dropping of the F-bomb. But we survived it, largely because I implemented what you told me to!

Here are a few of the gems that blog readers provided:

- GET MOVERS. I did that and even got them to pack up the house for me. There was one stressful thing about this – I wasn’t prepared for them. I needed to do a “pack for the packers”, much like you do the “clean for the cleaners” the night before the house gets cleaned. Because I didn’t prepare for them, I was unwrapping empty yoghurt containers in the boxes marked “basement office” when we got to the new house. I would have liked to avoid that, but not this time around. Having said that, this move would have been impossible without movers;

- Farm out the kids. Check;

- Keep drawers taped in the dressers and move them that way;

- Don’t take clothes in closets off hangers. Use the closet moving boxes;

- Have kids pack up their own desks and decorate the boxes. It makes them feel involved and gives them a sense of ownership and responsibility;

- Keep all special items (loveys, blankies, etc) and necessities (toilet paper and toothbrushes) IN THE CAR so as not to get lost in transition;

- Make the beds FIRST, so that when exhausted at end of day, at least people can crash in bed;

- Make the kitchen an unpacking priority;

- Label all boxes very clearly;

- Keep perspective – you will survive and it’s only STUFF! Your home is about the PEOPLE;

- If you cannot be there to direct the movers to the right rooms, colour code each room in the new house and colour code the boxes. Colour code furniture too;

- Use numbers to prioritize boxes – 1 means open now, 2 means later, 3 means no rush.

I’m still taking life one box at a time, but it’s done. We did it. And I don’t know how I would have done it without you.

I’m not always completely honest with my kids, and it is done in the best interests of all parties. It’s not like outright lying to them – more like faking it. These top the list:

1) I fake that I like food.
Don’t get me wrong – I like food, but not the way most people seem to. For example, I would never in a million years cook myself something to eat. You see, the work involved is not worth the result. I’m quite happy having a bowl of cereal for dinner. But, I feel like I have to be a good food role model for my kids. So, I may tell them that I had a soup and salad for lunch, when in reality it may have been a Kit Kat.

2) I fake that I was good at math in school.
When someone asks a math trivia question, I have an easy out. I just say I don’t know because I suck at math. It recently occurred to me that I don’t want my kids to hear me say that. Why? Because it’s an excuse not to try. Accepting how much I suck at math has somehow given me a free pass from having to do anything mathematical. I don’t want my kids thinking they can have free passes. Not yet. They don’t think they suck at anything and I’d like to keep it that way.

3) I fake that I think the Olympics are super exciting.
Other than some recent hockey excitement, I generally don’t get all that jazzed about the Olympics. My total watching time included only one period of one hockey game. Even if I was terribly interested in the Games, I’m not sure where I’d find the time to commit to watching them. I mistakenly told the kids they could stay up for the Opening Ceremony without knowing anything about the start time being a full hour after bedtime. Regardless, I mustered up some fake excitement, got out the craft supplies, dressed in the appropriate colours and cheered the kiddos on as they created a medal count chart and drew some flags to hang around the house. Certainly watching them get all excited helped out where I was lacking.

One day my kids will realize that they have a mother who will call chocolate lunch, is mathematically challenged and athletically uninspired. But that day does not have to be today. What are your dirty little mama secrets?