Thursday, Dec 24, 2009 | Baking, Holidays |
On the afternoon of the day called Christmas eve … downtime on the couch watching: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and Mary Poppins. Kev and I are recovering to the point of functionality following a brief but unhappy and ill-timed bout of the stomach flu, the misery also shared by several of our children. Yesterday was a yuck day all around, and included some swearing (both Kevin and I, on entirely separate occasions, used a particular word we’d taken care never to expose the children to before … which Albus today looked up in the dictionary. Sheesh). Around twilight, I became overcome with self-pity, which sits well on no one, especially on grown adults, I find. Yuck, yuck, yuck. But it all seemed a bit too unfair: to have finished writing the exam, all systems go for delicious holiday cooking and baking and sharing with family … and then woken at dawn to the sound of …
Well, perhaps we have this out of our systems. And though my appetite hasn’t returned, I nevertheless had the energy, today, to start a double batch of sweet rolls for tomorrow’s breakfast.
Tuesday, Dec 22, 2009 | Baking, Holidays |
Today’s new post on ParentDish: holiday baking with children. For those of you familiar with my blog, this may feel vaguely familiar. A little fictional non-fiction, if you will.
I will add that Cabin Fever feels like a particularly apt title today. I’m almost looking forward to this afternoon’s exam so I can get out of the house and absolve myself of the responsibility (for a few hours) of directing my children in creative and non-violent play. (Because they seem to gravitate toward the opposite: wrestling, shooting games, whacking with living-room pillows, using stuffed animals as missiles, fashioning tunics out of pajama bottoms and refusing to wear actual clothes, and involving the youngest siblings in a game called “Super-Villains vs Super-Heroes,” in which Mommy is the enemy. Good times, I tellya. Though they’ve got me now–they’re playing quiet games at the table, side by side. This too shall pass).
Monday, Nov 2, 2009 | Holidays |
Yesterday, we celebrated/marked el Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Kevin was thinking a lot about his dad, who died of cancer two years ago, on Halloween. Last year, we drove to his mom’s farm near Kingston after trick-or-treating, exactly as we’d done the previous year; but this year, Kevin worked on Halloween, and we couldn’t make the pilgrimage. So, instead, Kevin made a Day of the Dead shrine to honour those family members who’ve passed on. The kids and I were anxious about the candles burning down the house (sorry, Kev, I seem to have passed along the worry gene that doesn’t afflict you, and certainly didn’t afflict your dad, either!). I spent the Day of the Dead cooking up a feast. Albus played street hockey all afternoon, Fooey played indoors, Apple-Apple ploughed through the rest of the fifth Harry Potter book whilst wiggling a loose tooth (now out), and CJ napped.
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I’m alone with CJ again this morning, and we are playing upstairs. If we get downstairs, and if he doesn’t strongly object to my typing, I will add some recipes …
Sunday, Nov 1, 2009 | Holidays |
Witch pumpkin. Alien pumpkin. Cute-as-a-button pumpkin, with stars (though Fooey says it’s pretty scary; that’s a bow on its forehead).
CJ. Not impressed by Albus’s costume (Darth Maul from Star Wars).
Anakin from Star Wars. Darth Maul from Star Wars. Pumpkin. “Just a plane.”
Anakin after dark.
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009 | Holidays |
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009 | Exercise, Holidays |
On the afternoon of the day called Christmas eve … downtime on the couch watching: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, and Mary Poppins. Kev and I are recovering to the point of functionality following a brief but unhappy and ill-timed bout of the stomach flu, the misery also shared by several of our children. Yesterday was a yuck day all around, and included some swearing (both Kevin and I, on entirely separate occasions, used a particular word we’d taken care never to expose the children to before … which Albus today looked up in the dictionary. Sheesh). Around twilight, I became overcome with self-pity, which sits well on no one, especially on grown adults, I find. Yuck, yuck, yuck. But it all seemed a bit too unfair: to have finished writing the exam, all systems go for delicious holiday cooking and baking and sharing with family … and then woken at dawn to the sound of …
