Tag Archives: Lesson

Exciting and a Little Bit Scary

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What experiences have excited and scared you throughout your life? Going to school? Graduating? Starting a new job? Marriage? Having a child?

My oldest works while going to school. The job is on the same campus and pays well (for a student position), but it’s not necessarily a job that he’s interested in holding long-term. He’s been more interested in getting an internship in the career field he’s interested in, but it’s been a harder go than he imagined. He’s attended countless career fairs over the past year, and meets with a mentor. In my opinion, taking all the right steps, yet he was unable to secure an internship this last summer.

He could have resided himself that this field wasn’t for him, or that he was somehow not employee material, but he buckled down, took the feedback he got along the way and persisted, recently attending another career fair and getting an internship offer extended on the spot. He was thrilled. He still has a few more career fairs to go before deciding on what he’ll do next summer, but his confidence has grown.

I wished I’d coined this phrase, but borrowing it from something Snoop Dogg (yes, Snoop Dogg) said on a blind audience episode of The Voice when a singer didn’t get a chair turn. In those situations you can feel like a failure, like something is wrong with you or you aren’t good enough, but Snoop summed it up best. “L isn’t for loser. It’s for lesson.” How right he is, we learn these lessons along the way, and need to silence our inner critic’s voice that tells us otherwise.

As I shared my joy with my son about his internship offer I also mentioned he might feel excited and a little bit scared. I know I’ve experienced those feelings in times of personal growth. We agreed that’s what growing up is all about.

What makes you excited and a little bit scared?

I will be away next week to spend time with family and back later in the month.

Holiday Baking

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What do you like to bake during the holidays?

While we have our holiday favorites, that have been in rotation for years, a newer recipe we’ve added is homemade pot pie following Thanksgiving. I made it a few years back and my oldest, who is normally unimpressed with most foods, was a fan right away asking, “when can we have that again?”

Following Thanksgiving this year, I made the recipe again, enough for two pot pies. I labeled one for my oldest, and the other for the rest of us. Our son ate his pot pie in two days. My husband and I were looking forward to working our way through the pot pie, along with other leftovers, over the course of the next week or so. It wasn’t to be. A day or so after my son finished his pot pie my husband informed me the other pot pie had been finished off too. Not by either of us, but our oldest. I asked my son what wasn’t clear about the other pot pie being for mom and dad (it was literally written on the foil cover ‘mom and dad’s’). He shared he’d noticed we hadn’t eat all of ours, had asked his father when we’d eat it, my husband said he didn’t know, and he took that to mean we might not eat it, so he did. 😬

I discussed the flaws in his rationale and how he could handle it in a better way in the future (e.g., ask if you can have a piece). Then proceeded to hand him his punishment — we’d turn this into a cooking lesson and he would learn how to make the pot pies. One, he needs more experience cooking and this would teach him some good skills (using different tools (whisk)), and having to have multiple things going at the same time (getting vegetables prepared, oven heated, pie crusts ready), etc.). Secondly, he’d get to enjoy the fruit of his labor — another pot pie, and my husband and I could finally enjoy ours. 😊

He did a great job in the kitchen and it was fun working with him on it. I always imagined holiday baking memories to be around cookies and other sweets, but this one, with the lesson involved, is one I’ll remember for life.

What holiday dish(es) or sweet(s) do you like to make with your child? What’s one of your favorite cooking or baking memories?