Tuesday, June 12, 2007

observant

Juggling the baby, a spatula, and fielding random questions about snakes represents just another day in the life here at the Llama household. This morning I was cubing up stale bread for croutons, turning the same stale bread into french toast for breakfast, cutting up bananas for baby b.’s breakfast, and answering a random assortment of questions when Twin B. chimed in with, “When will my French toast be ready?” Not in that polite, I’m-just-wondering tone, but with an edge of demanding, a where’s-my-breakfast kind of tone.

“Be patient,” I answered. “Mama’s doing a lot of things at the same time. You need to wait patiently for your breakfast.” I resisted the urge to add, “Hey. Some Mom’s don’t even make breakfast. Heck, you could already be at daycare eating a baggie of cheerios, so buck up buddy.” But I didn’t.

Twin A., who tends to be careful and observant, said, “Yeah, Mom’s doing three things at the same time. She’s making our breakfast, making something for supper, and keeping her eye on the baby.”

I’m impressed. The kid nailed it. And he gave me an important reminder: when you don’t think they’re paying attention to the details, they are. They’re learning from us whether we think we’re teaching them or not. And, I believe, the biggest lessons are not in the big things, but the little things. How we treat the plumber who shows up thirty minutes early; finishing the promised and much anticipated game of UNO and letting the answering machine take care of the ringing phone; and responding with kindness and respect to a child’s question—even when we’re doing three things at the same time.

15 comments:

Craver Vii said...

You were juggling a baby?!

Llama Momma said...

craver - Yup. I jumped in the shower today too. I'm living on the edge over here...

Andrea said...

Great post, Llama. I can very much relate.

23 degrees said...

"Caught not taught" is how I heard it described once.

The bag of Cheerios comment made me laugh out loud (and so did Craver's comment.)

Thanks for sharing!

FrazzMom said...

Heck- my kids eat cereal out of a baggie and they don't even go to daycare!

I know what you mean about observant though. And it's usually the (hopefully infrequent) moments you hope they won't notice that they remember most...

BTW- have you tried the Trader Joe's frozen french toast? I know it's not the same as homemade- but when you're in a pinch for time, it only takes 30 seconds to microwave and it's darn good!

Llama Momma said...

Andrea -- thanks for stopping by!

23 -- always glad to provide laughter...

frazzmom -- I have tried that french toast. It's good, but I try to keep our convenience food consumption to a minimum. Not to complain about grocery prices to someone who lives in the Bay Area, but food prices are out of control. And my boys can eat TWO boxes of that french toast for breakfast! So, I make big batches of waffles, french toast, and pancakes for our freezer regularly. I can do the whole grain thing, plus save money. A win-win!

But, there's absolutely nothing wrong with a baggie of cereal if that's all there's time for! And, for that matter, nothing wrong with being a daycare mom. I just wish my kids were more grateful for what they've got...

Llama Momma said...

Update -- Twin B. just redeemed himself. I was, again, doing a million things at once when he said, "You're the greatest Mom I ever saw."

Aw, shucks.

spaghettipie said...

I'm always amazed at things my daughter says or looks she gives...and then I realize that she got them from me. They do catch on to things and we don't even realize it...

Llama Momma said...

SP - So true! The responsibility of raising these kids completely overwhelms me sometimes. Not the laundry and cooking, but the sheer responsibility of it all.

Lara said...

LM-I'm taking your idea of freezing pancakes, etc. My "freezer cooking" skills are still developing and that sounds like a great, easy way to go (especially since Musing Dad cooks all the pancakes & waffles in our house - I'll just have him double up the recipe!).

Llama Momma said...

AMM -- this is so simple to do, and it saves us a lot of time during the week. I usually zap the frozen waffles (or whatever) in the microwave for ten or fifteen seconds, and then put them in the toaster to crisp up. Voila! Breakfast!

Here's my new favorite waffle recipe:

Multi-Grain Waffles

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

2 C buttermilk
½ C old-fashioned rolled oats
2/3 C whole-wheat flour
2/3 C all-purpose flour
¼ C toasted wheat germ or cornmeal
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ C packed brown sugar
1 T canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Mix buttermilk and oats in a medium bowl; let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, wheat germ (or cornmeal), baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. Stir eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla into the oat mixture. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients; mix with a rubber spatula just until moistened.
4. Coat a waffle iron with cooking spray and preheat. Spoon in enough batter to cover three-fourths of the surface (about 2/3 cup for an 8-by-8-inch waffle iron). Cook until waffles are crisp and golden brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 188 calories; 4 g fat (1 g sat, 2 g mono); 55 mg cholesterol; 30 g carbohydrate; 8 g protein; 3 g fiber; 328 mg sodium.
Nutrition bonus: 144 mg calcium (14% dv).

MamaToo said...

wow - THANK YOU for sharing the recipe! My mother-in-law just gave us a waffle maker, but I didn't really know how to make my own batter.
I love that you have nutrition info on your recipes. How did you get that?!?

Llama Momma said...

mamatoo -- I got the recipe off of the cooking light website and it had the nutritional info included! I have friends who swear by the program, "Mastercook," since they can plug in their recipes and get nutritional info. As a mac user, it's not available...I'm sure there's something else, I just haven't found it!

Enjoy the recipe. It was a huge hit with everyone at my house!

MamaToo said...

This recipe was amazing. It was a bit more involved than I usually do, so I'll probably make a double or triple batch next time so we can freeze 'em. I loved the cinnamon smell throughout the house while they cooked! What a winner.
Idiot tech question: is there a way to link to your "comments" so I can talk about your fabulous waffle recipe on my blog? I think Craver has done this?

Llama Momma said...

Mamatoo -- NO idea how to link to the comments, but you're more than welcome to just cut and paste the recipe!

This is my hands-down favorite! Yummy, heathy, and filling!