Fun Friday and FAIL

So.

Lest you all get the wrong idea about me as a baker, just know that some of my attempts go fairly wide of the mark.

Take last Fun Friday for example:

Hmmm. They were supposed to be pumpkin muffins. I see now that I did not sufficiently grease my muffin tin, and so what resulted was pumpkin...bits? Pumpkin fall outs? Pumpkin crumble? Pumpkin collapse in a heaps? Still delicious but not quite so appetizing as the actual muffin would have been.

I followed up my baking success with a canceled playdate, cleaning the bathrooms (the Boy has to be gated into his room to prevent his enthusiastic participation) and feeding the mean geese.

All in all, NOT a winner.

But! Our playdate did stop by for a brief visit before lunch and a nap which was fun! And we went to target to tool around the holiday decorations which was also fun! So...not an EPIC fail, just not the strongest showing I could have made. I need some new ideas, please, you tell me what are some fun things you do with your child.

She was right...

Back in 2003 I was visiting my sister.  She was living in her old house in Durham and we stayed up late chatting one night.

My niece (she would have been 10 almost 11)  had gone up to get ready for bed and came back down to listen to the talk...not that she would participate because she is Silent One, but she is awesome so I persistently try to get her to speak.  But that is another story.  Anyway, she was laying on the couch with her head in my sister's lap and my sister was playing with her hair.

After a time she started to fall asleep.  And my sister smiled and I asked why, what was funny?  She smiled and said, "There's no feeling in the world like watching your child fall asleep.  No matter how old they get, there's no feeling like it in the world."

Six years later I can say that I categorically agree with her.


There's no feeling like it in the world. 

He's all soft and warm.  His eyes start to roll back in his head but at first he tries to fight it, tries to focus on my face.  His fingers flex on my arm or hand.  And then it happens.  He stops fighting.  His heavy eyelids close.  He sighs deeply and his fingers relax.  He's heavy when he's inert.

Pizza Party for One

You know all those hokey songs about how One is the Loneliest Number?

Clearly, they didn't have the sole care and responsibility of a 16 month old child every day.

One is not the loneliest number, one is a lovely, quiet, peaceful number. A number that indulges in selfish tendencies and doesn't require me to share my dinner OR the remote control.

Chris works late nights probably twice a week, and on those nights I make things that he either doesn't like so much or can't eat. For example. Last week I made pizza, because I LOVE it but it gives him heart burn. This week, I'm making black beans because he can't eat them without getting all itchy and struggling to breathe.

So here's how it works.

Step 1. Make dinner for your much beloved but somewhat fussy child.
Step 2. While he is eating, you make your pizzas.
Step 3. Run a bath for your adorable but now filthy child.
Step 4. Put pizzas in the oven, put child in the bath.
Step 5. Scrub child amid much protestation. Remind him that cleanliness is next to godliness.
Step 6. Drain tub, dry child, allow him to run around naked while you pull pizzas out of the oven.

Step 7. Diaper, dress and cuddle your child. Prayers, teeth brushing and goodnight kisses are administered.
Step 8. Sigh deeply as you shut the door.
Step 9. Walk over to the TV/DVD player. Select something soothing like North and South. Press play.
Step 10. Make a plate.


Step 11. As the movie begins, bite quietly into perfectly hot and spicy pizza. Enjoy.


Incidentally, the other blessing of these solitary parties is that the Boy and I get to enjoy the leftovers for super easy lunches through the week. Sally forth and enjoy yourself!