Cooking with kids

Today, I made brownies with my daughter whose 3 years old. She loves "helping" me in the kitchen. I don't like it so much. I'd much rather do something else with her, because "helping" to Grace actually means using the stove, putting something in a hot oven, skillet or pan or kneading dough after petting the cat or touching everything in sight. It's pretty stressful.

I guess I'm a little selfish when I cook. I don't like distractions and Grace is full of them. I am the complete opposite of my grandmother, who always allowed me to help in the kitchen. I learned a lot by watching her. I thought I'd grow up to be patient like her.

When my kids were babies I imagined myself making cookies, and decorating cupcakes with them, but that was crushed when I actually had them in the kitchen with me. I want them to measure and pour, but they wanted to do everything but. I want my children to like cooking. It's part of teaching them to take care of themselves, but to be quite honest I don't have the patience. I hate it so much that I do it at night when they are asleep or when they are distracted by television or playing.

So that my children and I can have fond memories, I take a short cut. I use boxed desserts. I have to be honest. I am not a fan of processed foods. I really like cooking from scratch, but to keep the stress level down in the kitchen, I fake it. It's much quicker, less mess and they love cooking. Today, we made a box of Giradelli brownies. I make it more interesting by adding a "secret" ingredient. This time I gave them a twist by adding coffee left from this morning instead of water and we baked them in a mini-muffin pan.

She was so happy. I feel like I created a great memory. She had a patient instructor and I was only in the kitchen with her for about 6 minutes. We moved on to a rhyming game which I like much better.

A Bird in the Hand

My children never cease to amaze me. They not only say some of the darndest things, but they do some of the darndest things.

Saturday, Matt took Emil to the park to play catch. I took Grace with me to scan the racks of Goodwill. I really like the one on Madison and Racine. It's neat, they always have new stuff and I find excellent bargains. Most every piece of Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, and GAP clothing for the kids came from Goodwill.

The temperature had dropped 20 degrees in 10 minutes (that's Chicago for you), so I called Matt to check on them. They were fine and to my surprise home already. The game of catch was cut short when they left the park so Emil could wash his hands. Emil had caught a bird - a real live flying bird.

I was in shock. How in the world does a 7 year old catch a bird? He's been trying since he was 2 and from what I can tell, birds are super fast. Matt said he couldn't believe it either until Emil came running toward him with it in his hands. I asked Matt did he freak out or was he calm when he saw him with it, I mean, I didn't want his spirit to be crushed. Matt admitted to yelling, "Put it down."

I had to talk to Emil. I had million questions. The first one being, how the heck did you catch a bird? He said it wasn't easy. He had to sneak up on it. The bird was desperately trying to get away from him, but it was really wet and it couldn't take flight. Emil said it did a flapping/running thing trying to get away from him. When he caught it, he just wanted to warm it up and dry its wings off so it could fly again. WOW! Is my little boy kind or what?

I'm thinking the bird's wing may have been hurt, since it couldn't fly, but Matt didn't stick around long enough to investigate.

Grace and I did pretty well ourselves. We didn't catch a bird, but we did score my newest prized possession. A gently used duvet and pillowcase set, that came with a down comforter.

The store was closing and I saw it hanging there looking like spring, all bright yellow with large colorful flowers all over it. I scanned it for rips, tears and other imperfections and reasoned that for $4.99, I could use it in the winter as extra cover for the kids. I thought it was a comforter, so I took it to the laundromat and washed it. I dried it on low and it kept balling up in the dryer. I took it out after 40 minutes - it still wasn't dry! When I got it home, I tried to shake it out, but it wouldn't smooth out. That's when I discovered the down comforter inside. What a bonus! I never noticed the buttons on the side of the duvet. I took the comforter out and let it air dry.

I slept under it last night. What satisfaction! I was so proud and comfortable. I'm a bargain hunter and the mother of a bird catcher.

Prelude to blogging

I am oh so geeked! I have such great expectations for my blog.

Okay, so I'm about 3 years late on the whole blogging thing, but I really wasn't interested until now. So even if I'm not "in" anymore-so what?!

I'm also on Twitter, as if I needed to add anything else to my plate. I guess I just needed to feel needed.