If you are lucky like me you had a mom and a grandmother or two who were the source of magical meals and desserts that you remember forever. There was no better food to be had, your young palate was amazed at how good it was. Sure there were some misses here and there (although I did manage to enjoy Welsh Rarebit somehow), but for the most part it was all magic. Once in a while at home there would be a really special dinner, or when you visited your grandmother there would be your favourite cookies out, somehow ready for you. You never once questioned how amazing that was, what a coincidence it was that she just had this stuff ready, no matter how elaborate the meal.
As I get older, and the kids get older naturally they become ever more appreciative of good food, and their favourites. Seeing the excited faces and hearing the appreciation is awesome and rewarding, one of the true joys of parenting.
Ok, enough of the inspirational tripe and misty eyed Hallmark-ed Pinterest-bait. One thing that never ever crossed my ungrateful little kid mind EVEN ONCE was just how much back-breaking work and money went into feeding me. Holy crap, it’s absolutely unbelievable how much work it is to feed a family well. Nikki does an incredible job of feeding us, with appreciative sighs and ahhs all around, but man there’s a metric fuck-ton of work behind that, not to mention the cost. The boys are getting bigger all the time, and the quantities of food they will eat in their teens is beginning to become apparent, forget the casual dinner guests that appear ever more regularly.
For instance, just the other night we had dinner for Nikki’s Mom and Dad (Darlene’s birthday!), which was all good. Aunt Pat tagged along at our insistence, which was awesome. Jordy had a friend over, no problem. Her boyfriend was scheduled to come too, but couldn’t make it at the last. So what started as a regular dinner on a Wednesday night ended up as dinner for 10… Nikki killed it too, amazing roasts (yes, two roasts) and most of a bag of potatoes mashed and creamy amazing, and veggies. Everyone loved it. What I’m sure wasn’t obvious was the fact that getting that meal on the table took two trips to the grocery store (one for the extra roast, one for the rest) and a couple hours of prep. Forget the rest of the things that were done, house cleaning and tidying, dishes washing, etc. It’s a stupendous amount of effort to cook for that many people.
The most messed up part of it all is how COMMONPLACE and ordinary it’s all getting. It would have been the whole damn week getting ready for that dinner when we were younger. Now? Meh, Nikki knocks out a masterpiece with a few hours notice. The magic becomes familiar and everyday to us parents, but there you go. We wouldn’t change it for all the unicorns, puppies, and rainbow muffin baskets in the world***….
*** Bonus Hallmark Norman Rockwell finish.