Tracking September

Think way back when you were a kid and how a day seemed a year, a birthday a century away and snack time was never soon enough. Kids have a perspective on life that I believe is often forgotten by adults. They live in the moment. I am an advocate of time management and scheduling. But lately I have attempted to give liberty in that area… at least on Fridays. Late morning we hurriedly pick-up cousin Savannah from preschool and determine to forget schedule, throw sanity out the window, and spend an afternoon doing the sporadic (mind you, the sporadic still requires a packed bag, a plan for lunch and the hopes of success before nap time grumpily shadows).

Our first sporadic adventuring carried us to 66th street at the beach, sans bathing suites and towels. We trudged down to the shore with the determination to achieve nothing but fun. Savannah plopped in the surf, digging small holes so the water would pool puddles as it slowly drifted in and out. Ryder chased small beach birds across the wet sand as Rory watched from her perch on my lap a few yards away. You would have thought I handed them the world. Squeals of joy and skips of glee, childhood was front and center.

I learned during this outing, and the following Fridays, that watching my kids explore at a distance from me is a little bit scary. Ryder pushed his limits at the surf, slowly getting deeper into the waves grabbing at his toes. There were moments he came up sputtering realizing the consequence of not listening to the boundaries I encouraged. Or the following week where we had a picnic lunch at the library play ground and he attempted a jungle-gym ladder that was too wide for him to climb and found himself stalled half way through. He asked for help and Lord knows I was waiting for it, because it was hard for me to watch him adventure through something I knew he would not be able to achieve on the first try. This was good, this was hard, this was a growing moment for us both.

As with any outing involving small children there is bound to be imbalance between how exhausted I am compared to how exhausted I hope they are. The third Friday we picked up Savannah, a pizza and drove to a Mt. Trashmore Park. Mt. Trashmore Park is the location of the only “mountain” in the region (and if you are from North Carolina you would call it a hill and if you are from Colorado you would call it a speed bump, but I digress). Regardless of its magnitude, it still requires upward trekking! We achieved the climb but not without some rookie setbacks

1. If you have the thought to ask the four year old if she needs to use the little girls room, she probably does and will tell you during the most inconvenient time; ideally half way up the “mountain” when you have a five month old strapped to your chest, a pizza in one hand, a bag full of picnic stuff, and a two year old slipping in his fuzzy-lined shoes that he insists are the ideal trekking gear all seasons round.
2. Its kid-code to act completely different than you would at home in order to challenge your parent and really make them think if this is worth it (it was, but a five month old fussing nearly the entire time because the concept of wind and bright sun on a “mountain” top is as far from the womb than she cared to experience just yet definitely had me wondering)
3. Pizza and dandelions are a fine combination.
4. Decide if you are willing to carry all three children, plus the left over pizza and bag o’ stuff back down the mountain (the answer must be yes, but there is no shame in considering pushing all, including myself, down the mountain as this would save time and energy. But then I remembered, we are not on a schedule. I said we were flying by the seat of our pants or something stupidly insane like “sporadic adventuring” or some crap like that…who’s idea was this?). Thankfully, as with all Fridays, they end. Yes, I said thankfully. Because just like eating a whole batch of cookie dough seems like a great idea at the time, in hindsight, moderation is what keeps you coming back for more.

Recommendations from R&R and cousin Savannah:

Lewis, Kevin and Daniel Kirk. My Truck is Stuck!

Raffi albums: More Singable Songs [1996] and Everything Grows [1996].

Ryder’s absolute favorite food: Soft baked cereal bars. www.eatliverun.com (modifications*)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 T ground flax
1/3 cup warm water
3 oz earth balance buttery sticks (we use 3oz butter / nearly a stick*)
1/2 cup + 2 T brown sugar
2 T soymilk
*we use whatever filling on hand: jelly, reduced apple sauce, pureed fruit

Directions:

Cream together the butter and brown sugar. Whisk together the ground flax and warm water then add to butter/sugar mixture in two installments, blending well after each. Add the soymilk and mix until combined.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add to the butter and sugar mixture and mix until a soft dough forms (it will be on the crumbly side). Turn dough out onto a floured countertop and form a smooth ball. Let chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove half of dough from the fridge and roll out to be a long rectangle (as thin as you can make it*). Cover rectangle with filling, leaving a one-inch border around edges. Set aside.

Roll out other half of dough to be a rectangle the same size then sandwich rectangles on each other, pressing down gently. Put cookie on lined baking sheet, bake for 25 minutes. Cool and cut. Recipe says it makes 10, we usually get 16 out of it. Put in tight container. Will last nearly two weeks in pantry.