Baking with the Kids, Again: Valentine Cookies

Okay, Mother Nature is having hot flashes. Last week, we were suffering with -36C plus (minus) windchill. Very cold. Too cold for cars and buses to start. This week, buses were cancelled yesterday because of freezing rain and today because of...freezing rain, bad road conditions, a sudden temperature drop. Take your pick. Although, the roads were worse on Monday when we had constant snow, and the ploughs didn't pass until late at night. The buses could not get up the hill to my husband's school.

Today, parents were called to pick up their kids from school, if they had driven them, at 11am. The arena was closing at 1pm. The city is shutting down because we are supposed to get cold weather after a lot of rain, and everything is going to freeze. By Friday, we are expecting a high in the minus mid teens. If there is any doubt, the erratic weather is indication of global warming. We are on "snow" day number five.

I brought my daughter to school today and yesterday, but playgroup was cancelled yesterday. I needed something to keep us occupied. My son had found my cookie cutters in the kitchen drawer, and thought they were for play-dough. This gave me the idea to make Valentine cookies. It's almost February.

I found a recipe on Martha Stewart's website. I modified it slightly by adding nutmeg and vanilla extract. Otherwise, it was pretty good. I halved the quantities, and still made lots. The dough is quite sticky, and, even after refrigeration, i had to use quite a lot of flour to prevent sticking. The dough also spreads a lot when it bakes. Most of the shapes lost distinction after they were baked.

http://www.marthastewart.com/354106/valentine-cookies

Sugar cookies are not a favourite of my husband. My kids are less picky, but everyone would prefer them with icing. I do not like the hard royal icing. It hurts my teeth. The ready made colourful tubes of cookie icing at the strore were tempting, but I opted to buy icing sugar instead. I made my own icing with icing sugar, milk, a little white corn syrup, vanilla, and gel colour.

My kids helped me decorated the heart shaped cookies. I made a few jam sandwich cookies too. Those were eaten for dessert, but the rest of the cookies are going to school one of these days when the buses are not cancelled. Next week is February. Perect timing!

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No Wonder People get Frustrated Learning a New Language.

English is my first language. I learned to speak French when I was 8 years old. My father decided to do a post doc in France for a year, and he brought the family. My brother and I attended a French school and at the end of the school year we were completely bilingual. I even had a cute France accent, and used the same language quirks as the local children, such as inserting "puis" every third word. Think of it as the equivalent to "like" in English.

I learned the language because I had no choice. The other students spoke as much English as I spoke French, initially. Counting to ten, thank you and please. We had to adapt. We had to figure out what was being said, and we had to figure out how to express ourselves in French to be understood.

I learned grammar and vocabulary in class, but looking back at my notebooks, I was not given a lot of work that was different from the other students. Initially, I was taught some basic verbs and nouns, to get by, but there are a lot of different verb tenses, and regular French students have to study them as much as people learning French as a second language.

I lost a lot of my French over the years. We did not have French immersion at my high school. Occasional summer visits back to France over the years helped to maintain the language, a little, but I started to pick up an anglo accent. I would start to speak in anglicisms, and make mistakes I did not used to make. Languages need to be spoken or they are forgotten. I know this, as I used to speak Spanish ten years ago, and I have lost it almost completely. My brother, who was six while we were in France, does not speak a word of French now.

My French improved immensely since I have had children. I made the choice to speak to my children in French. My husband and I speak English to each other, but we both speak French to the kids. My son speaks very little English. My daughter speaks a bit more. She learned it mostly from daycare and school (even though she is at a French School). She also had to figure out how to communicate with her cousins in Winnipeg, and my friends' children.

I read to my children every night, and I learn (or relearn) new words every time I pick up a book. There was one verb that got me thinking. The verb was "amener". I had never used this verb. I assumed it was similar to "emmener", which I used in the context of to bring something or someone somewhere. Little did I know the can of worms I would be opening trying to figure out these verbs.

"Amener" essentially means to bring, but you use it with living things, people. The other verb, "emmener", means to take someone (again living things) somewhere. Now, in English there probably is not much distinction between "take" and "bring", but some grammar hounds out there will know when we are supposed to use one, and not the other. I suppose the same could be said about French. I am sure no one would think I do not understand the language if I mix up "amener" and "emmener".

Here's the added layer to the grammar story. If you want to use the verbs to describe bringing and taking inanimate objects, you are supposed to use to verbs, "apporter" and "emporter" respectively. In English, we tend to use the same verbs for multiple purposes. I think this is why anglophones get frustrated with new languages. Our verb tenses do not change much, nor do our verbs.

In Spanish, there are different verbs for ask, ask a question, and ask for something. We anglos look at this as the same verb, but you have to conjugate the verbs differently in Spanish, and realize which one to use. Learning a language is not a matter of merely translating. You have to have a feel for the language, and the culture. I think people get frustrated because they want a quick answer, a quick solution to the problem, and that is not always the case.

I know I make grammatical errors in English all the time, and I need to not beat myself up when I make them in my second or third language too. It is all a learning process.

http://www.bertrandboutin.ca/Folder_151_Grammaire/N_a_amener.htm

PS two other verbs always getting mixed up: peindre which is used to paint a picture, and peinturer which is used to paint a wall.

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Love Letters to my Children

My daughter's teacher would like for us to write a letter to my daughter about why we love her. I am pretty sure I had to do something similar to this last year for the month of February. Love is typically the theme for the second month of the year. I have been trying to figure out what I will write to her in this letter.

How do you explain to your five year old why you love her when you cannot explain it yourself? I would say it is instinctual. I have to love her because she is a part of me. I carried her in my womb for nine months. However, parents love adopted children just as much as I love my biological children. I would do anything for her and my son, and it is not just because we share DNA.

I remember listening to a program and the man was describing how, if he wanted to have a happier life, he would not have had children. He followed this by saying he would sacrifice anything for the safety and happiness of his children. Children make our lives feel purposeful. They can be frustrating. They make things much more complicated, but we would never give them up to have the life we had before. We would lay down our lives to keep our kids safe.

My kids love me unconditionally, for now. Despite the fact I will lose my patience with them, yell at them, take away toys and treats, they will fight each other over who gets mommy to put them to bed. Sometimes, they fight over who gets daddy, but not as often. They spend more time with me, so I spend more time disciplining them. I suppose I also spend more time playing or doing activities with them, but my husband and I are good about sharing parenting duties.

It never ceases to amaze me that they will still want to hang out with me after I have lost my temper. I apologize immediately after. Usually, it comes about after I have asked my kids five to ten times to stop doing something or start doing something. I have given them the line, "mommy still loves you, even when she is angry." They also give me the reciprocal line, "we still love you, even when you are angry."

Why do I love my children? I don't know, but I do. It brings tears to my eyes when I hear my daughter teach my son the words to "Vive le Vent", then he sings back his truncated version of the song, and she congratulates him, as though he won a singing contest. Watching them use their imagination as they play with their toys makes me wish they could stay little forever. I love when they come to bed with us in the mornings, not too early, and snuggle. I love when they want a hug and kiss out of the blue.

This evening my daughter wanted me to put her to bed. I asked, "Why do you want me?" She replied, "Because, I love you." "Why do you love me?", I asked. "Because you dance, and sometimes you take me to gymnastics." How can you not love someone who gives you such simple answers?

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Stranded by a Blast of Arctic Air

We've been going through a bit of a cold spell up here in Canada. I guess the jet stream has dipped south, and some of the very cold air from the Arctic is giving us a run for our money. Yesterday was the first time I have heard of school being cancelled because of cold, in Sudbury. In Chapleau, buses stopped running around -40C a few times. We never had school cancelled in Manitoba because of cold. Wednesday, schools were open, but the buses were not running. My daughter would have gone to school, if I could have driven her, but we were stranded at home.

My husband parked under the carport Tuesday night. It was in front of the garage, and in front of the van. His 2010 Honda Civic does not have a block heater, nor did we think to look for one the night before. When he tried to start the car in the morning, it wheezed, clicked, and died. He had to call around to get a ride to work. Around this time, I finally heard the announcement that all buses were cancelled. I had just spent 15 minutes convincing my daughter to get up, eat, and get ready for school. I was going to take her skating after her brother's playgroup at her school. It was a great incentive. All that wasted effort!

I should have listened to the radio earlier. In fact, my husband had kept hitting snooze, he just wanted to stay in bed. I didn't much feel like getting out of bed either. Our bodies knew this was not weather to be out in. We should have listened to what they were saying. Of course, as soon as I told my daughter there is no school, she got upset about that. Really, this is how I get her to want to go to school? By telling her there is no school? I think not.

All my plans for the day went out the window (and froze instantly). It was -36C Wednesday morning. I was not about to walk my daughter to school, and we could not move my husband's car. We could not go skating either. Staying inside is sometimes the only way to cope with the extreme cold. I would have loved to have thrown the kids outside to play, burn off some energy, but that was not in the cards.

I have no idea what was up with my kids, but they were at each others throats most of the day. My daughter wanted my son's toys, my son wanted her toys, and neither wanted to share with the other. If they were good for a brief moment, the phone would ring and they would start hitting and biting each other. It does not matter if they are in separate rooms, if the phone rings, they seek each other out to cause the largest disruption possible. They did manage to play fairly well on the minitfo website while a friend was boosting our car. Yes, we finally got it going. Good thing because CAA was busy.

In the end, I did some baking, the kids played with the LiteBrite (still lots of control issues), and finally, the only thing that appeased them was the TV. I am sad to say, but no one had the patience for crafts or constructive play yesterday. My solution to cabin fever was plunking them down in front of the boob tube, and only then were they not fighting with each other.

I made some nice Vanilla Cloverleaf Sweetbuns. It uses the same Master Sweet Dough recipe from Bon Appétit I use for the soft pretzels. My kids were able to help measure the ingredients, punch down the dough, and roll the little balls. This dough is not too sticky, and the kids can work with it easily.

Goes great in my daughter's lunch, and she will eat it!

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I Am Not a Short Order Cook

I am a good cook. I am not arrogant. This is just a fact. I pride myself on my cooking ability. It came from my mother. I make wholesome, well balanced meals for my family. These meals are yummy, tasty, colourful, and my children refuse to eat them. I am beginning to feel there is not anything I can feed them for dinner.

I should have expected this from my daughter. She has never been a good eater. She was borderline "failure to thrive" for most of her first year. Even when she was breast feeding we had issues. We had such bad issues I ended up in a fight with one of her doctors, and we were sent to another one. She was seeing a dietician until well past her second birthday. Those of you who struggle to keep your child's weight up in the early months know the frustration of a low weight baby. Of course, parents of bigger children also have to face a lot of scrutiny.

Feeding our children (I mean everyone's, not just my children) is a battle. My son was a much better eater, and still is, for the most part. My daughter's repertoire of foods she will eat has diminished, and the list was short to begin with. My son still eats avocado, and yoghurt. He will eat nuts, and a greater variety of cheeses. He likes warm oatmeal for breakfast, sometimes. My daughter would probably be happy eating French toast until the end of her days.

I am lucky both of my children usually eat the vegetables I make for them. We know which ones they will eat. Cooked broccoli, asparagus (but my daughter does not like the tips), red peppers, spinach leaves (raw), lettuce, green beans, snap peas, sometimes carrots. They are pretty good about fruit. Again, my daughter is pickier. No blueberries, mango, melon, papaya. My son will eat any fruit.

The thing is, I was hoping to get away from making a separate meal for my children. I want them to eat what we eat. Sometimes, it is not too difficult to modify the meal to suit them. My daughter, and sometimes my son, is not a huge fan of sauces. If I am making a stir-fry, they will get the "deconstructed" version. My children are eating with the new food trends, and they don't even realize it!

I will give them a handful of the raw veggies, and cook the meat before I add the sauce. Usually they are okay with this meal. If I cook salmon, my kids will eat the fish, if it is not "dirty". This means without the goat's cheese, pesto or tomatoes. Again, success. The biggest issue tends to be one dish pastas or soups/stews. For some reason my daughter refuses to try these meals. She doesn't even take the smallest bite possible, fake liking it, then refuse to eat the rest of the meal. We tell her she can't say she does not like it if she does not taste it. She is stubborn enough to sit through dinner, begging for dessert, without tasting her meal.

I think my ultimate frustration came last week when I cooked homemade mac 'n cheese. I have been spending the past week finishing off the leftovers because both of my children refused to eat it. First reason, was the breadcrumbs on top. Next, the cheese was melted inside the sauce. Finally, the noodles were not straight. Curse you Kraft Dinner!

My daughter said she would eat spaghetti. Last night, I made a chicken parmesan and we had spaghetti, and veggies on the side. I know she does not like sauce in her spaghetti, so it was plain. The moment I put the spaghetti in front of her, she says, "I don't want spaghetti." Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I will not be a short order cook. The dietician, and all the parent resource workers say not to make special meals for the kids, but what do you do when they refuse to eat everything you out in front of them?

Often, the promise of dessert is incentive enough for my kids to eat their meals. However, if they are stubborn enough, they will forgo dessert to be able to leave the table. My kids usually eat well for breakfast, and this is probably because they are starving in the morning, having left their dinners on the plate. Of course, almost every morning my daughter wants French toast, and we end up having a fight over what she will eat in the morning. This does not work well with the limited time we have for her to get ready for the bus.

Every meal is a struggle. I am waiting for the day my kids don't turn their noses up at dinner food, eat with smiles on their faces, and thank me for a delicious supper. Can I have more, please? Is that day coming?

PS. Don't recommend those kids cookbooks that hide wholesome foods in meals kids are supposed to like. My kids don't usually eat the junky foods, like chips and chicken nuggets, and hate tomato pasta sauce. Plus, I don't have to hide veggies. My children are actually less inclined to eat food with hidden purees. Go figure.

This recipe was an epic failure with my children, but I enjoyed it. Maybe you will have better success with your children.

http://recipes.todaysparent.com/Recipes/View/Classic-mac-and-cheese

 

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Finding a New Career

I have been thinking about what I can do if I were not a teacher. I have training in science, biology, forestry. I could probably do any number of things, if there were jobs available. Right now, here in Sudbury, there are not a lot of options for a new career.

Retraining is not in the cards for me. Sometimes, I think about becoming a doctor, but that is a lot of time and money for a job I am not particularly passionate about. My best friend spent 18 years in school after high school. She is a medical officer of health in Winnipeg. She started med school in her late twenties, and said she was right at the border of the age where you could tolerate the BS you have to face to survive med school. She does not think she would be able to do it in her forties.

She said to me the other day, she is always nervous driving by accidents because she has forgotten all of her trauma training. She memorized everything she needed to know to pass and move onto the next task. She has been working on TB, and now public health education for so long she does not feel confident she would be able to help anyone in a medical emergency.

I like the field she decided to study for medicine. She has an environmental and personal health focus to her portfolio. I would like to be involved in nutrition and environmental health, but the number of years of training after actual med school would add up. Some things are just too late to start. I would be in my fifties before I got to a job I wanted.

I have thought about being a dietician, nutrituonist, or a massage therapist. Again, these fields require additional training on my part which means time and money. We do have Science North here. I have applied on occasion when they have been looking for the educational liaison person. I think they are leery about hiring teachers because the salary at Science North is significantly less than what a teacher could potentially make. They have already lost employees in the position to permanent teaching jobs. My husband says I should tell them I probably won't leave.

The thing is, I really like the fact that we get time off with our children as teachers. It is difficult to find a job that gives you so much time to spend with your family. We work hard during the school year, and often teachers are working or training or prepping during the summer. I just like being able to spend the time my children have off with them. It also allows me to visit with my parents often. I value our time together as a family more than any additional income.

I have been thinking of putting my name into the French public school board. If I am not getting work in the English public system, it cannot hurt to try another board. My husband works for the French Catholic board, and he thinks I would be able to supply in his schools (other than the fact that I am not Catholic). I sometimes feel my French is not up to snuff, but it is pretty good. I find it amazing how much it has improved since I have had children. Of course, only speaking to my kids in French, and reading French books to them has helped me a lot.

I should look on the job bank, and try to find something. Sometimes, jobs will surprise you. Jobs you might have thought were fun, and inspiring can end up being soul sucking, whereas things you might not have otherwise considered turn out to be a source of immense satisfaction.

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(Not) Exercising During the Winter

I am finding it very difficult to stay active during the winter months. For the past few years, once the snow clears, the weather warms a little and the days are longer, I start running at least 5km three times a week. In the summer, I often run every day or six days a week. Last summer, I ended up dropping below 148lbs, a weight I had kept for over ten years.

I try to keep up the running as far into the season as possible, waking up early on weekends for my morning jogs. Once the days get shorter and the weather turns colder, however, I kind of hibernate for the winter. I find it difficult to even do exercise videos or simple routines indoors. I prefer to do my exercise outside, but I am not a super huge fan of the cold. Having Raynaud Syndrome does not help.

I have been dealing with this issue for as long as I can remember. My fingers, and sometimes toes, will turn white when I get cold. Being outside during the winter, my fingers are turning white on a daily basis. I often have to taken my mittens off to find and use my keys. The minute my hands get cold, the fingers turn white. I can get the same effect from taking food out of the freezer too.

It is amazing how quickly I lose circulation in my digits, but it will take a long time for the blood flow to come back. I am often seen with my hands around my neck or around a mug of tea. In the van, I take off my gloves and stick my fingers by the heat vent. Growing up in Manitoba did not help me. After being out in the cold, I would have to run my hands under warm water to get sensation and blood back into my fingers. So, this is one deterrent for exercising outside, but not really an excuse.

My father also suffers from Raynauds. He used to go running in -20C weather, and cross country skiing when we lived in Manitoba. He still runs every weekday, living in Oakville. The weather is significantly warmer in Oakville, but still colder during the winter. I probably would not be running all winter, even if I lived down south. There is something about the darker days that shuts me down for a couple of months.

The days are getting longer, and I am longing for warmer days. It is -26C out there today, and though I could find warmer clothes, put on a toque, neck warmer, gloves, and everything else, I do not want to run in the cold. When we lived in Chapleau, I used to cross country ski on the river in the winter. Maybe when my kids get older, we can start doing that together. I suppose I could check out the trails in Capreol, but it so far. See, finding more excuses not to exercise in the winter.

How do you stay motivated? I am feeling more jelly belly of late, and this should be motivation enough. I guess I will just try to do some muscle building exercises, focus on my dance classes, and look forward to an early spring. I am taking my son skating on Wednesdays, but he is very slow, and not so stable on his own.

Hey, a lot of animals take it easy during the winter, and expend all their energy in the warmer months. Maybe I am a bear. Storing some winter fat, giving me better insulation to deal with the cold. I cannot wait for the March Break. Start running again once there is more sun in the mornings.

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