I baked my first Splendaful banana bread today. All I had to do was replace a cup of sugar with a cup of Splenda. It was that easy -- a smile-inducing solution to my move-ready kitchen's shortcomings. The banana bread itself was another solution to rotting bananas that I didn't want to waste. And rotting bananas the result of a fruit-phobic nanny who conveniently forgets to administer the daily servings as instructed.
The rotting bananas, along with the dustbunnies under the couch and the oil splatters on the stove will soon become my responsibility. I will trade in my business cards for recipe cards, hopefully learning to live a fully-engaged, somewhat green, and a much-needed slow life in the process.
I was still single, almost ten years ago, when I received what I now believe was the best parenting advice. One of my co-workers, who had an 18-month old daughter, was marveling at how long it took to walk to the corner deli with a toddler in tow. She was reminiscing about how they had to stop and look at every crack on the sidewalk, every stain on the walls, every flower sprouted beside a tree. Her daughter would pause and stare at every passerby, chirping a shrill "Hi!" on occasion, only to get distracted by the next crack on the sidewalk or a doorman in uniform. When I asked her if the whole thing didn't drive her crazy, she shrugged with a wide smile and said, "My weekends are so much better now that I live them through her eyes. I'd rather take 20 minutes to walk to the deli than miss out on all this. It's worth the investment!"
1 comment:
Hey - I got mine Razrs (you know the scooter thingies) and boy - they really do not want to stop to look at anything then! Shopping trips or walks to the barbershop now takes about 7 minutes instead of the usual 45 (I have two kids, remember, so 20 x 2 = 40. :P)
Post a Comment