Since we are living for free at my parent's house, I buy all the groceries and cook dinner Monday-Friday for my own little family, my parents, and my brother Liam. It's my rent payment, of sorts.
So I was just starting dinner tonight when my mom called: we needed to make dinner for a neighbor family whose mom just had surgery. I made extra, packed it away separately, and my parents got home early to deliver it. While they were gone I laid out the spread: ginger meatballs with sweet and sour sauce - made from scratch, rice, dinner rolls, pears with cottage cheese, and spinach salad with granny smith apples, strawberries, candied pecans, and Briannas Poppy Seed dressing.
But just before it was time to eat, Sam ended up having to leave for a new member discussion. Then my parents got home and Liam announced that, unbeknownst to him, there was a football awards banquet tonight. With hasty (but heartfelt) apologies the three of them rushed out the door to his event.
There I sat, alone, at a table spread with hours of hard work, and with three picky kids who refused to eat anything but pears and strawberries.
Yup. A mother's job really is the most thankless job on earth.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Thankless
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19 comments:
It seems like that happens to you a lot. That is seriously a bummer. I would probably cry. If it makes you feel any better, it sounds delicious and I'm sure the neighbor family enjoyed it.
Can I eat at your house? I love that salad by the way.
I think about how little thanks moms get for the work they do- "Of course mom made me dinner, that's what moms do right?" If they even think about it that much. It really makes me appreciate my own parents now- so eventually there is hope of the thanks coming around.
I sometimes take it so personally when the house I worked so hard to clean gets messy again. As if entropy isn't real.
Anyhow, the dinner sounds yummy. And my kids don't eat yummy stuff either. So annoying. Well, at least we live in the modern world with refrigeration and microwaves, so that leftovers are possible!
Maybe that's why I don't cook when it's just me and the kids. I'm also glad my husband is happy with leftovers. I think we'll receive our reward in heaven for all we do as mothers.
Bummer. I hate when that happens.
I'm sorry.
Wow! What a meal! If it happens again, you give me a call and we'll be more than happy to come and partake, and be very thankful to you. ;o)
THANK YOU!!! :)
Ouch. That's always so hard to not take personally when it happens; you should have gone next door and shared it with the neighbors! Sounds like they weren't going anywhere, and I'm sure they enjoyed it!
Been there done that... when we lived with Spencer's parents I used to do the grocery shopping and fix the meals for everyone. There were numerous times when I'd slave away all day preparing a huge meal only in end to be enjoyed by myself because everyone else had prior commitments they never told me about, and then there were those times I'd decide to slack and just make mac'n cheese or better yet cereal and Spencer and his parents would invite other family or friends over for dinner with out telling me. Talk about HUGE EMBARRASSMENT! It never gets any easier; I've learned to be adaptable and expect the unpredictable not just during meal time but with life in general. As a wife and a mother, we're no longer responsible for just ourselves but our children and husband. It's been nearly a year and half since we lived with Spencer's parents. I could have sworn that the unpredictable during meal time would have been a thing of the past, but what would you know...it's not. At times Spencer still surprises me and tells me friends are coming over to eat with us when all I've prepared for dinner is cereal in a bowl of milk... in 10 years or so, I bet my boys will be bringing home their own friends to eat with us during meal times. I guess the greatest lesson here aside from being adaptable is remembering to always have a fully stocked pantry. ;)
BTW I'm curious; the meal you prepared sounded really delish... do you mind sharing the recipe???
Steph - not at all, I'll email you. :)
Well too bad I wasn't there because that meal sounds delicious to me! I have never had pears with cottage cheese tho. I'll have to try that one.
I guess motherhood is thankless until your kids grow up and go through it themselves... and realize how much you did afterall.
I'm finally starting to realize that now ... I'm starting to see how much my mom went through every day just to raise us! Now I go back and thank her for all she did because I realize how much she actually did sacrifice! ;-)
By the way I think you look very cute in that picture.
What a meal! You are welcome to visit and cook a meal for my family any day.
Sounds delicious! Sorry you had to eat it alone.
we'll be there next time that happends. You can cook for me anytime. Can you e-mail me the recipe, it sound delish!
Just remember... If this ever happens again you are welcome to bring it to our house and serve it to us!
You are amazing. I gave up on that part of motherhood long ago. Luckily my husband loves to cook, so he gets that glorious job when he's home, like one night a week. But I think the reason why he likes to cook is because he always does it at the firestation and there are plenty of people to give him accolades and they always eat ALL the food and ask for more. - Maybe I would like it if I got that kind of response.
Sorry about your dinner, I think I would cry.
Wow, Gourmet!
I feel your pain. Jason has been working late all week so I've been serving to the picky kid selection. Last night I made homemade lasagna and got it all dished up and called the kids. Andrew walks in and declares, "I don't like meat!" With a giant scowl on his face, mind you. Then Kate sits down and says, "I'm not drinking this! Water is NOT my favorite!" With her not-so-pretty sneer face that she pulls WAY too often.
Needless to say, I sat down to dinner by myself with full plates on either side of me with the soothing sound of waling and gnashing of teeth coming from each of their rooms down the hall.
Yep. Thankless.
That's the saddest story I've ever heard!
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