Cooking with Crash

Life with a house full of teenagers is never dull – especially when it comes to food.

Now I figure that it’s my job as a mom to teach my kids the life skills needed to make it on their own in this big world.

And since everyone needs to eat to survive – it stands to reason that cooking needs to be taught – even to my sons.

That’s when things start to get interesting.

Pedro (aka: Crash – so nicknamed because of his infamous tractor in the ditch incident) had some real doozies lately.

The kids are responsible to make their own breakfasts on school mornings. They actually enjoy the freedom to make what they want.

Panckae
Crash was really hungry one morning and decided to make a really large pancake. He used 3 cups of pancake mix -  enough to make 21 pancakes!

That was one BIG pancake! He did eat it all ( with the help of his siblings). But boy did that thing soak up the syrup!

Then there’s the barbecue.

I have 5 kids – so each one gets a night to make supper. They get to help plan the menu for the evening, do the cooking, and then are excused from dishes.

Crash cooks on Friday night. He wanted to make grilled hamburgers.

SupperHe got distracted.

We ate it anyway – but his siblings gave him a bit of grief.

Dagmar -” Love the char you got on these burgers Crash!”

Crash- “Thank you – I worked all day on it!”

Dagmar- ” More like about 5 minutes too long!”

Like I said before – life is never dull with teenagers in the house!

Bottomless Pits

Can we talk a minute about teenagers and their appetites?

People warned me about growth spurts – but seriously!!

Pedro must be in the midst of a big one because all the kid does is eat. At a meal he will eat 3 huge helpings of everything on the table, a big dessert, drink the juice that is left in the bottom of the corn bowl, lick the ketchup of his plate and look around the table for more.

It reminds me of the classic Pooh movie when Winnie the Pooh goes to Rabbit’s for tea. He eats and eats and eats.

Finally Rabbit asks him, “Would you like some more?”

Pooh responds eagerly, “Is there anymore?”

To which Rabbit gives a firm, “No.”

“Oh bother,” is Pooh’s response.

Oh bother is right!

This kid will eat us out of house and home! When I walk in our local grocery store the check-out ladies just smile and call in reinforcements!

Years ago – when Pedro was an baby- he was sitting in his car seat in the grocery cart as I was shopping. As I unloaded the last of my purchases from the cart at the check-out counter – I pointed to Pedro in the cart and joked that this one was already paid for.

The check-out guy quipped, “That’s what you think – just wait till he’s a teenager.”

Oh my – how right he was!

Teenagers in the House

Birthday cake with the letter 'P'

With Pedro’s 13th birthday last week, I now have three teenagers in the house.

No wonder my grocery bills have been climbing – really climbing.  (By the way, I now believe in the “hollow legs” theory.)

My computer is always in use with someone else’s email logged in and weird music playing.

My laundry piles are bigger and the clothes in the piles are bigger. My son is taller than my husband and I can almost share clothes with my daughter.

The shower is always in use and the remote control is a hot commodity.

And my schedule is crazy!

I thought it was hard having babies and toddlers in the house! Hah! They were a piece of cake – at least they went down for a nap every afternoon, went to bed before midnight and didn’t use all the hot water!

But I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s exciting to see these kids growing up – maturing – becoming the adults that God meant them to be.

And I have a front row seat to cheer them on.

How blessed I am!