Do you know how many times I have heard this phrase during my 17 years of cooking meals for my children? Probably one and it was the other night. I know I have made mini chicken pot pies before but for some reason this go round they were considered exceptional.
I have never claimed to be a good cook. I don't even like to cook but I have come to be proficient at it over the years. I have a few go to meals that my kids like for example: kilbassa casserole, Rachel Ray's pasta and trees (broccoli) and corn flake chicken nuggets that supposedly rival Chick fil A's.
Cooking meals for my family has not always been easy but it was a precedent set by my mother. We always had home cooked meals growing up even when she started back to work full time when I was in high school. I loved her Oven Fry chicken, stuffed flank steak and of course her meatloaf. I was called up to help prepare these meals in order to get the food on the table for when my dad got home. We ate together as a family. It seems back then things were a little less busy.
These days, my husband gets home from work after we eat and after the kids are driven either to work, to basketball or to dance. Who has time to cook? It would be so easy to eat frozen Aldi chicken fries every night of the week and, to be honest, I think my kids would be ok with that until probably day 4. Then they would ask for Lunchables or frozen pizza to break up the monotony - not one of my home cooked meals previously mentioned.
I have been trying to get in a groove with managing our housework since I started my new Monday through Friday job. It has been a challenge. Getting the shopping done on the weekends and doing some meal prep doesn't always work out. But this week, I went back to 1989. I gave my oldest son some things to do before I got home from work since he is off the bus and home first. I got on board the time machine from my youth and did it old school.
On Monday: I asked him to please peel a few potatoes and carrots and put them in a pot of water. (I used them in the pot pies.)
On Tuesday: Please boil some water for noodles and please cut up the kilbassa in medallions. (I used those in the kilbassa casserole.)
Do you know what a difference his help made? Sharing the load these past few days has made me appreciate the help I have available and also manage to have nice stress free meals to enjoy in the evening. (It also helped me to get a little nap in on Tuesday when I wasn't feeling well.) I think overall it has been a win-win for both of us and I have noticed my son seems, shall I say it...happy to help?
For years I have been searching the Internet for ways to get my kids to be more helpful. I've tried Mom Bucks, which was simply a reward system with the kids receiving a ticket, when they did chores on their own, that they could redeem for a prize. FAIL. The kids never did things on their own and I never bought prizes.
I've tried having a small dry erase board in each room with a list of chores to do that should be checked off each day. FAIL. The kids lost some of the markers that went with the boards and if I didn't look at the boards each day, I didn't know if the check marks were from today or three days ago.
Don't get me wrong - my kids do dishes and take out the garbage, when asked, but I have been wanting to go beyond those boundaries. I don't mean to sound like a crotchety old man who walked to school both ways uphill but when I was their age I ironed clothes, including, for some reason, my dad's hankies. I scrubbed the floors. I used a Brillo pad on pots and pans. My kids don't do any of these things although, I don't iron any more either. (The hankies did me in I guess.) I think I took it easy on my kiddos but I am seeing there is still time and I can right this ship of fools.
So lift the anchor and set sail. Who knows where this new course will take us? Maybe one day, my son will make an entire dinner by himself?
I'll keep you posted.
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