it irks me

Written by

Jana

in

,

You know what bugs me? When my kids and/or spouse start hovering around the kitchen at about 4pm saying things like:

What’s that I smell cooking?
Have you thought about dinner yet?
I’m hungry.
Will dinner be soon?

I don’t know why these questions drive me batty, but I suppose it has something to do with the look in some people’s eyes when I tell them we’re having Turnip Toss for dinner and, of course, turnips are their very least favorite food. Or maybe it’s because at 4pm on many days I’m still not sure what’s for dinner and it’s like squirting lemon juice into my “I suck at motherhood” wounds every time I hear that question and I have no answer.

I feel perpetually overwhelmed by the demands of prepping food for two strapping young teens and a verra hungry man-spouse. Adding to that, the late afternoon is probably my grumpiest time of day and so I’m already not on the mood to be reminded of my shortcomings. Yah.

Comments

8 responses to “it irks me”

  1. JohnR Avatar
    JohnR

    In defense of your spouse, a) he’s usually at work at 4pm, and b) when he’s not at work at 4pm, he often is the one in the kitchen doing the cooking.

    Reply
  2. jana Avatar
    jana

    My writing wasn’t meant as criticism of my family, but was meant to show how dismal I feel about the dinner situation. I think I take the questioning too personally. As if any failure to produce a meal that pleases everyone evidences my own domestic hopelessness.

    Reply
  3. JohnR Avatar
    JohnR

    Heh. And I love when you cook your scrumptious meals! I’ll try to relieve some of the mid-week burden.

    Reply
  4. Bored in Vernal Avatar
    Bored in Vernal

    i resemble these remarks…

    Reply
  5. journeygal Avatar
    journeygal

    What’s for dinner:

    http://www.traderjoes.com/Attachments/QuickMeal.pdf

    Reply
  6. DD Avatar
    DD

    This topic also gives me alot of anxiety.

    I have done almost everything possible to master the dinner dilemma for, hmm, about 8 years now. Nothing has helped me feel better about dinnertime.

    My failure lies in the planning and shopping. If the proper ingredients and recipes somehow magically appeared in my home, all would be well.

    I could go on and on, but I’ll just say, I definitely share your pain. Honestly, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have this same problem. If anyone is interested, check out http://www.savingdinner.com/

    I did this Menu Mailer approach for a few months, but we like more asian-inspired foods which we just were not finding on their menus.

    Reply
  7. jana Avatar
    jana

    DD:
    I’ve done the Menu Mailer before but it doesn’t work for me because I prefer to eat locally-sourced foods. Last I checked, it didn’t have a 100-mile diet version. :) But I do agree that it can help with the dinner dilemma sometimes.

    Reply
  8. Brooke Avatar
    Brooke

    Could’ve written this verbatum (sp?), except that my 2 kids are little and picky. Also LOVE it when my John cooks.

    Reply

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