Meal # 76,478…
This pandemic has found us all being full time chefs. Can my fridge hold all this food? Will my dishwasher survive daily use? Do I have enough plates? And those are the easy issues. The big one is What will I make for dinner for meal # 76,478?? I love to cook…..well usually. When I was working with no kids….loved to cook. Stay at home mom to one kid…..loved to cook and bake. Add that third kid and I start losing some of the love. Now that I’m working too, cooking isn’t as fun as it used to be.
I realized quickly into this pandemic that all four of us are home with the same boundaries. Why should I have to cook every day for everyone? My plan is to have my kids and husband each make dinner one night a week. That takes 3 days off my back. We don’t make new meals each night. Sometimes there are leftovers (so many leftovers!). My kids are elementary age and middle school age. The older one actually cooks. We help. The younger one can not do as much and that is ok. I learned that providing meals was a brain drain on me. You have to make so many decisions. What to cook? What are the sides? How long will it take? When do I need to start prepping. Just giving the planning part away melted away so much stress. If my elementary kid wants to serve yogurts and bagels….that is fine with me. We do challenge them - don’t let them only serve bagels or grilled cheese.
My favorite part was them realizing for a simple dinner of bagels and yogurt or grilled cheese and salad - there was a lot of work that goes into getting that on the table. Win #1: They appreciate me. Win #2: they are gaining much needed life skills Win #3 - reduced stress. And why should this only be during quarantine?? I plan to keep this going. During sports season my middle schooler is busier but not too busy for 1 night a week!
Give it a try! Your kids might surprise you! If you have a predictable home schedule from week to week with regards to dinner time, have each family member pick their day of the week to own for dinner. If you have rotating work schedules that change week to week, sit down with the family whenever you get your schedule and have everyone pick a date to own. You can write it down on pen/paper or add it to the family google calendar! No matter how formal you do it….just do it. Share the workload. #weareallinthistogether.
