I have my marching orders

Like every other family in the state, we are gearing up for school. This actually involves less preparation than people would lead you to believe. True, bedtime needs to be rolled back, while supplies and new shoes, and haircuts have to be procured, but all of this takes less than 5 hours, so getting ready to go back to school is more a matter of mourning the end of summer, and getting into the proper frame of mind.

For my children, that means, "Mom, get your ass back in the kitchen."

Just in case this was not entirely clear to me, earlier this week, while having a snack, my project manager Sarah diagrammed it for me:


In other words: you've really slacked off on the baked goods this summer, but I understand, because it's hot, and who wants to turn on the stove, and after all, you did allow us to have ice cream every day, so I'm going to let you off with a gentle reminder to get cracking.

(I especially like the reference to my "amazing" oreos, which I made once, and hadn't planned on making again, but I guess I was wrong.)

Aside from Sarah's well documented, and admirable ability to simultaneously work me and massage my ego, I found this amusing on several counts.

Gabriel is represented twice. I think this is because someone didn't like the first likeness, but an equally apt explanation would be his impressive appetite.

Sacha does not show up at all. He is the pickiest eater, so he didn't even rank. Instead, my next door neighbor, who happened to be over when Sarah made the drawing, gets billing.

While his mother is occasionally mortified by the way he slips into our family fold, I have told her on many occasions that I don't mind, because a) I adore him, and b) while my own children endlessly critique what comes out of the kitchen, it is so refreshing to feed someone who is unabashedly enthusiastic about whatever is being served.

So Ethan, we'll see you for dinner tonight at 6.