This morning I was cooking some ethnic food (bitter gourd, we call ampalaya) for Tatay & Nanay (my parents staying with us) when Surfer Girl started chatting away....
"You know mom, we and T's family (our good neighbors) are so different."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, you know... their mom ... she plans their dinner... so she always knows what she's going to cook for dinner. And us... you don't. We always don't know what we're having for dinner.".
You can just imagine my "shame" (actually, guilt). I tried to recover but I couldn't. I turned into a defensive mode. "Pretty bad, huh? " I muttered.
"Well, not really. It's just different. You just don't plan in the morning" (she said that is the sweetest voice possible)
My defensive mode rose to the highest level. "Well, Surfer Girl, I tell you what - today I decided to plan our dinner this morning. We're having this bitter gourd tonight and you're eating it!".
Surfer girl has this "what's wrong with my mom" look on her face. She knows me well enough by now to know she said something she should have not said. Too late.
So her response to what I just said? "Oh.... ok".
******
UPDATED 2/10/08: I just got reminded that I have nor participated in the Mother and Daughter Carnival for a while. I thought I'd submit this post for this week. I n a couple of weeks, my daughter and I are going to have a "Girls Day Out" where I would spend the whole day with her, a mom-daughter bonding time. Since I had been working a lot of hours, I really think I need to this special time with her to catch up on what's going on wth her....
For more posts on Mother and Daughters, visit Real Life blog :)
6 comments:
:-)
sounds like my two daughters here!!! was thinking of writing a similar blog about that 'wondering comment', too, coz i find it both funny and amazing...amazing how working moms like you (and me, tehehe) cope up with all the things we need to think about. much more about dinner while having your breakfast!
Somehow what to eat always causes tension in my family and mealtimes generally! I never plan what I'm going to eat till I get to the supermarket about 30 mins before dinner time!
Is T's mom a working mom? It's really tough. This is one thing I'm trying to get better at in 2008 and so far so good. And I "only" go in four mornings a week. I have no excuse!
By the way, the picture of Surfer Girl is priceless!
p.s. Miss C told me this weekend I was always forgetting everything...great. I have a lot to look forward to, don't I, with the parenting critiques from my own children? ;)
There's always breakfast for dinner. One of our favorites!
I don't plan dinner ahead, either, and I'm not even a working mom, so I don't have your excuse! Thankfully my family overlooks my weakness in that area and shows lots of appreciation for the things I AM good at, which is nice.
I usually decide what's for dinner about ten minutes before we eat it...lol!
I tried Saving Dinner and menu mailer. It really was a lot less stressful to have my meals planned out for the week, though I didn't always stay on track. They even provide shopping lists. I think it's www.savingdinner.com. Their freeze-ahead meals are wonderful. You spend less money, you eat healthier (or at least we do) and I don't have that sinking feeling an hour or two before dinner about "what are we going to eat?" (I am not connected with these people in any way.)
Having said that, I have fallen off the wagon. I hope to get back on in 2008, though I will probably use saved meal plans I've already gotten from them and from their book.
While it may have felt insulting to have your daughter make such a comment, maybe it was just an observation. But you know your daughter better than I do. I always like to hear what other mothers are up to. I learn stuff. I don't make changes usually, but I learn stuff and get my eyes opened to other possibilities. (Virginia's mother works out at 5:30 in the morning and leaves their hot breakfast cooking for them..... Virginia's mother is a full-time minister and I imagine there's a lot she does better than I do. :)
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