'Tis a Gift To Be Simple!

Once upon a post-noon dreary, Lucy cried out, bored and weary,
Tired of playing with her same old toys…

“We’ll start dinner!” I thought excitedly. Thanks to our work-provided cafeteria meals, we do not often cook at home. But today was going to be a special treat. I had picked a new recipe from our “First Meals” cookbook. Chicken sausage snails.



Fabulous? Fabulous. Lucy was going to love this.
I placed her on a chair beside me and she admirably helped to wash potatoes, add breadcrumbs, mix chicken broth, all the while mimicking the way I would peer at the cookbook.
She especially liked the potatoes boiling happily. “Want to see pa-tatoes!” she would periodically call out, and I’d lift her to see the bubbling pot.

But after a good 20 minutes of happy helping, she was pretty much done. That’s ok, I thought, she’s been great until now. Of course she needs a break. So I pulled out some toys and set her free to play. Not a go. My hands covered in raw chicken mixture and flour, I had no choice but to continue with my delightful, 'child-pleasing' masterpiece as Lucy whined, and then clamored, and then cried for my attention. I could feel my temperature rising and my patience ready to snap. When Wes got home I was short tempered and stressed. Welcome home.
Gratefully, Wes was unaffected by my mood and busily involved Lucy in mashing potatoes.
This she loved.

We finished our “snails.”

Please ooohh and ahhh.
Lucy ate about two bites.
She did have a joyous time poking parsley stems into mashed potatoes to form the antenna of a “Cat-pill-rrr,” but in the end, ate a piece of toast with jam for dinner.

Chicken Sausage Snails?
Quoth this mother, “Nevermore!”

Tomorrow we’ll have Macaroni and Cheese for dinner. And play red light green light while the noodles boil. Simply sensational!