Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Dinner for Breakfast







This morning: got out the frying pan to whip up some eggs for my brood to sustain them for another 8 hours of hard time at school.  Then, started thinking about dinner.  Even before I cracked the eggs!

This is what it means to be a wife and mother – when you’re blessed enough to have plenty of food in the fridge.  I don’t take it for granted- there are so many who don’t. 

It's true, you’ve come a long way, mama.  You can forge a career, rock the Mompreneur route, stay home and create a haven or work part- time while juggling your darlings.  Motherhood's evolved, and we've got plenty of choices - thanks to our own mothers, who endured the days of shoulder pads as they eked their way into a man's world. 

Still.

One responsibility hasn’t changed much in motherhood – at least here at my house.  A big part of my job is feeding the masses.  Food consumes my thoughts constantly – and not because I actually get to eat it piping hot.  No, it’s because the many tummies in my house are a demanding lot.  And it’s up to me to sustain my brood, which means I can barely eat one meal without thinking about the next!

Now - I can hear hubby, reminding me he does plenty of the cooking around here on weekends.  It’s true, and I’m a lucky gal.  Seriously, when I declare there is nothing to eat and we simply must go out, he whips up a beautiful seafood souflee with all the trimmings.  He’s that good.  (Don’t be jealous ladies.  He has plenty of other flaws, just like your man.)

Still, it’s up to mama to make sure the fridge is chock full of snacks, lunchbox fare, breakfast cereals, after-school munchies and ingredients for those yummy, healthy and cost-effective meals I have to generate during the weekdays.  So I live at the neighborhood grocery store, where “everybody knows my name….” 

I mean, they greet me constantly from the moment I walk in! I wish the managers thought I was a hot ticket, but I think they’re just thinking, “cha-ching!”

I like going to the grocery store.  As a mom, it might be the only time someone might appreciate me all day. When the guys at Safeway ask if they can show me the aisle where I can find said ingredient for linguine and clam sauce, I let them.  A girl's got to get her decadence where she can.

So - I make lists, cut coupons (OK, not that often), take requests, shop for groceries, store them away, cut them up, fry ‘em up, put in front of my family, register their complaints, engage in high level negotiations for required number of bites, then, supervise clearing, scraping, loading and scrubbing.   Done.  For now.

Then, I wake up, take out the eggs, and think about dinner.  Sigh.  I think I'll just swing by Safeway ...

If you enjoyed this post; please sign up to subscribe via email. (See below) Or visit my professional FaceBook page and click, "Like."  https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Diane-Meehl-Content-Queen/177628838953207


Even better, make a comment and share your thoughts!!