“Delicious.”
“Spectacular.”
“This is soooo good.”
If you’re thinking you’re going to score a great new recipe that was boy-pleaser, then let me bear the burden of your disappointment. They were marveling at their own creations… none of which had anything to do with my cooking.
Sigh.
The Man spent the day fulfilling baseball-head-coach, testosterone-filled, heavy-lifting duties while I got the short-end-of-the-stick, run-of-the-mill referee, maid, disciplinarian duties. Who’s the lucky one in this scenario???
And when it’s Sunday and The Man isn’t home – Mama doesn’t cook. I can’t give a good reason for this – I can give a reason, but definitely not a good one.
On this particular Sunday, I was also trying to rally the children to get ready for our upcoming ski trip. Which means laundry. Winter creates a never-ending laundry abyss anyway, but trying to get it all washed and folded and packed in the same day with no husband to help … you’re feelin’ me, right?
And I had to take them to the grocery store. The fun overfloweth!
The Bread Guy was grumping and pitched an eleven-year-old fit about something (you all know what I mean) so I left him home. Which left me with the 2 goofs. In the store. On a Sunday. Oh. My.
They decided on french bread pizzas for dinner. Super easy. More time for the other things that we needed to accomplish.
But wait!
No lunch. No laundry done. And computer games when we got home.
I decided that since they were going to do whatever they felt like, then I was, too. So, I made some delicious hazelnut snack bars (recipe forthcoming) and did a few other things in the kitchen before I was ready for a quick workout.
Yes, I deliberately set them up for failure. Because I am such an awesome mom.
You can imagine the rest of this little tale.
Hunger really is the Mother of Motivation.
They did everything to make their own dinners – unseasoned tomato puree and everything.
If I would have made this, they would have complained about something: the way the bread was cut, the bland tomato sauce, the cheese that spilled over the edge and got crispy … but because they made, they loved it.
A secret was revealed to all of us this fine evening … when they help with MAKING food, they are more likely to EAT it.
“Awesome.”