Everyday Lessons

Another day, another lesson learned. This morning we were in the full getting ready for school routine, when it occurred to me that one of us was not his usual perky self. He is not a morning person, but he had started off well, until Dad reminded him it was a school day for him. He had a marked change in his demeanor for the rest of the morning. We tried to encourage him, and get him ready for the day, but he was not having any of it. As Rick was loading all of the kids in the van, Nes went into full meltdown. His wise Dad brought him in, and said, "this is not worth it, he is staying home." As soon as I told him he could stay home with me, he brightened up. Okay, so clearly he is not ready for pre-school. I am just fine with this, we have not done pre-school ever, so this is not a departure from the norm. We will spend more time playing Legos, singing the alphabet, riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline, and making Nes feel at home here. I am actually very glad, I like having him around, and now I have one less ride to worry about.

Yesterday I had a peach canning fiasco. I had my Dad bring me 75lb of peaches for me and my friend Heather to can. Why? As a child we always canned peaches and pears in the summer. It seemed like the thing to do. It was a part of my family culture that I wanted to pass on to my girls. The hitch has been, that peaches and pears come on after school starts. I have considered having them stay home for half a day and help me, but after yesterday it occurs to me that this is a bad idea. Peaches are not readily available in our hometown. They are available after school starts which means the kids can't learn how to do it, and the little ones are being neglected while I am doing it. It is at least as much for me to can them as it is for me to buy them already canned. Sure it is nice to have peaches in the dead of winter, but my family can polish off a jar in one sitting, which means I have two weeks worth of peaches canned. Winter is much longer than that. I guess this is one of those skills I will have to let go for this season of life. If one of my girls ends up living in an orchard somewhere and needs to know how to can, I will get out my copy of Joy of Cooking and teach them how.

The fiasco was that I had 75lbs of peaches that didn't seem to be ripe, but seemed like they should be. I got them started, and they were really hard to peel. Heather was a trooper, and kept peeling. I would have given up after the first 6 jars, but she made it until lunch. We were commenting on how good the kids were doing, they were downstairs, talking happily, doing something. Pretty soon, Nes came up the stairs with a strange new hue to his face. We got a closer look and realized that he had a nice layer of foundation on, and that all of his finger and toenails were bright red. Heather needed to take her daughter to get her school pictures taken, so she went to get her and she too had a nice layer of foundation on her face, hair, collar, tie, hands, and her toes and fingers were also bright red. So they were busy, they were getting along, and they were destroying Mad's make-up. Oh yeah, that is why I haven't canned peaches in 10 years. Obviously I am not a quick learner, and I learn best by making mistakes. My hat is off to all of you ladies out there that put up your own food for winter, knit your own blankets, and sew your own clothes. I might get there someday, but for now I will thank God for Costco.