It's been a while.
So two big events that took place: one, a Valentine's Day celebration (which doubled as a Father's Day celebration, since Father's Day takes place after school ends) that took place at Baby1's preschool; and, two, Baby1's 4th birthday. The first event was an exercise in social commentary and observation of double standards; the second, an exercise in, um, exercising self-control. So the first event...
As the Valentine's Day celebration was to double as a Father's Day celebration, the students' dads joined their kids in the morning event. But whereas the Mother's Day celebration would take place mid-morning, the Father's Day event took place first thing in the morning, so as to allow the dads to get on with their day at the office. Granted, working mothers, particularly full-time working mothers, are in the minority at the parent-led school - but the scheduling definitely favors the working dad over the working mom.
What then started as my personal social observation really got me thinking. That morning, as the teachers led the dads and kids in a round-robin of activities and snacks, the kids got down and dirty with their activities - while most dads stood around, hands in their pockets, afraid to perhaps (a) get dirty with the painting; or, worse, (b) get dirty with their kids. I'm not sure which fear it was, but I did notice that most of the dads who seemed to get into the activities with their kids paralleled those I've seen co-oping at the school. Granted, by the time snacks were served at the end of the hour-long event, all dads had gotten to sitting with their kids.
It is a broad stroke of the stereotype brush that I'm painting on the dads who were afraid to get into the activities that morning with their kids. However, I would have thought that in this generation, most dads would take more joy in getting involved with their kids, no matter the quality of the time spent - especially for those working dads who are not able to spend more time with their (fast-growing) kids in the first place. And I'm comparing the stand-aside dads to those military dads that morning, who, in their uniforms, rolled up their sleeves and still got into the activities with their kids. If there is any constant in parenting, it has to be the eternal common denominator of time - what little time we have with our children, we should not take, but we should give, as a gift.
So the second event... Baby1 turned 4. We threw a birthday party for her, and at her request, we had a moonbounce, and coordinated to have lemon cakes. In an effort to not make and bake well into the wee hours of the morning as I usually end up doing before a party, I chose to purchase some fresh items coupled with some processed-food items. Most of the time, I'm all in for touting fresh raw ingredients from the perimeter of the supermarket, but given that I had sent the evite out just the Monday prior... well, my time has been short of recent to say the least. So it was off to purchase some ready-made items for the little get-together.
And what usually would have been a half-hour spin through the supermarket turned into an hour-and-a-half expedition through the deep bowels of the supermarket. Of all 20 meatball options there, and the 10-or-so dips options, 5 different options for shredded cheese, pre-sliced chicken tenders or presauced AND presliced tenders or presauced AND presliced AND preskewered tenders or pre-all-of-the-above AND precooked tenders or pre-all-of-the-above AND pre-tasted to guarantee that damn, these have got to be the best damn tenders you could possibly serve to your guests with all the choice chemicals pre-pumped in so you can just leave out the extra juice...well, you can see how in the world my half-hour trip took three times as long. I'm pretty sure I clocked at least a couple of miles in the supermarket - there was smoke coming off the shopping cart wheels.
So the text came in from Hubby: what took so long? When I got home and explained to him - he needed no further explanation and understood perfectly - and asked that I bring him to help me in my dilemma next time around.
All in all, the party came together well, even a last-minute one of sorts. What was the funniest thing though, was the fact that even though my evite went out to the parents only 5 days prior, they had already heard about the party - from their kids at her school. From Baby1. She's a 4-year-old publicity firm, already out and about, telling her friends what she wanted (princess, so there were 3 identical princess cards that showed up that day!). And despite my all-black uniform that is my wardrobe, and Hubby's stance as a thick-framed-glasses-wearing architect, we indulged her in her request, from 3 months back, for a pink flouncy princess outfit, full-on with tiara, bracelet, pink shoes, wand, and fairy wings. I'll pick my battles, but this one, this is for my little girl - and she loved it.
One interesting conversation I overheard, during the course of the party, was a parent outlining a parenting method they're following. Last I checked, kids aren't cars - so I'm still baffled how one could read a book, and assume that the exact method outlined would work perfectly for your child. Unless, of course, if you happened to have written the book, which is why I think there are so many parenting books out there: everyone's got a perfect solution. It just happens to be for their child/children. Then again - here's and exercise in self-control: I didn't put in my 2 cents, at least in that conversation at that moment.
Now then, on to one recipe, from our processed-food weekend! This sauce turned out awesome, for dinner post-party, and I'll give all thanks to the sweet Italian sausage in the sauce. Even Dad was impressed - and that's not an easy feat. We served this dinner with a side salad (lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, mix with squeeze of orange/olive oil/s/p) and some garlic bread (mix olive oil/crushed garlic/salt, spread on bread and toast until just hot). I almost felt like we were eating in Philadelphia again.
Pasta with Sausage Ragu
1 sweet Italian sausage, raw, removed from casing and broken into small little pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
1/4 green bell pepper, diced
1 large can whole plum tomatoes, crushed in the food processor (trust me, processing the tomatoes at home tastes better than buying a can of crushed tomatoes)
Spices: mix the following, in decreasing amounts, into a total volume just shy of 1/8 c
Dry crushed basil
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
(optional, add a pinch of red pepper flakes)
Pasta of choice (try fettucini, ziti, rigatoni)
Salted water
Fresh parmesan, grated
1. In a tall saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the sausage just until oil/juices come out.
2. Add garlic, onions, carrot. Stir well until all pieces are well-coated, and onions are mostly translucent.
3. Add green pepper, crushed tomatoes, and spices. Bring to steady simmer (be careful of the hot tomato bubbles!), and once simmering turn the heat to low. Continue slow simmer for 20-30 minutes.
4. In the mean time, start boiling the water for the pasta. Once water boils, add salt, and toss in the pasta. Cook until just al-dente.
5. Combine the pasta with the sauce. Serve hot, with some freshly-grated parmesan (if desired).
