What Are You Good At?

I brought the two younger kids for swimming this morning. As we were heading out the door, my son asked me a random question "What are you good at Daddy?". I thought for moment and asked him whether he meant if I had a hobby. I was hoping that that was his question or I would have difficulty making up an answer. 

A few evenings ago, I took the both of them to the dentist. They both had cavities that needed filling. After fixing their teeth, the doctor suggested that I should buy less sugary snacks for them. I nodded in agreement. Some room for improvement there for me; certainly not what I was good at. The doctor also asked me what time the kids normally went to bed. Perhaps he was surprised that the kids were still alert and active at 8.30pm whilst he was treating them. I hesitated for a second before I told him that they go to bed at 10.30pm. The doctor was surprised and asked me if that was because they take a nap during the day. I was glad he reminded me; I explained that they do take a long after school nap. Not great but not bad either.

That evening as I was chasing the kids to get ready for their bedtime, my son said this with a cheeky smile "You told the dentist that we go to sleep at 10.30". I gave him my usual monster stare and he couldn't contain his laughter. He caught me telling a white lie. I told him that he and his sister got me into trouble with the dentist because they refuse to sleep early.

So what am I good at? Before I could answer my son's intended question, my daughter offered some suggestions, as if she was answering the question on my behalf " Take care of us? Cook for us? Take us out?" My heart swelled up with pride and I thanked her for being so kind. 

I can't honesty say that I am great at parenting but I am glad the kids are appreciative of the effort.

Weekend Cooking

Each weekend, I spend between three to four hours cooking a couple of dishes. These aren't for a homely weekend meal with the family.  These dishes go into the freezer for consumption during the weekdays. We've not had domestic help for many years now and this is one of the arrangements to get around a time-deficit work week.

As you can imagine, there are downsides to this arrangement. My traits at the workplace manifest themselves when I am in the kitchen. Those who know me from work will tell you that I like to keep things simple. Over-complicating things only lead to confusion. The other thing that my colleagues would say about me is that I like a modular approach to most things I do. Design self-contained modules that can be used and re-used. I cook the mince meat on its own so that it can be used in the porridge, or mixed-in with the fried cabbage, or with spaghetti sauce. Stir-fry two types of vegetables and they can be mixed-and-matched with the meat or the poultry to give you at least four different combinations of a balanced meal. 

Monday's are predictable - a meat and vegetable soup slow cooked overnight. Whilst we can't have soup for every meal, I am determined to have it at least one day of the week. It's not because I have Cantonese blood from my mother's side of the family, but simply because it's one less thing to think about on a Sunday evening - meat, root vegetables, onions, all in a pot and I am done. It's my sons' least favourite meal of the week, but I will keep at it so long as my daughter still enjoys it. When my sons give me the stare, I just tell them,"eat it, because it is good for you". 

Someday, when my kids get invited to their potential in-laws' home for dinner, they are going to realise that other families' meal times are quite different. When that happens, I hope they will see the humour in it and find it in their heart to forgive me. I hope that they will also understand that good tasting or not, it was a labour of love.