KEEP CALM. It's only a school holiday.

Easier said than done. Keep Calm, it's only a school holiday, who's he think he's kidding..?

 

Drawing to a close; the dying embers. Now, my offspring sprung from school some time ago so it's not an issue for me.  But it most certainly has been with the three of them.

We tried to go to the seaside a fair bit as we live not far from the east coast.  Each boy was equipped with exactly the same swimming trunks in the brightest colour we could find, pretty much in keeping with the mikegetscooking philosophy - electric lime greens, vivid bright orange and so on.  It made it much easier to keep track of them just in case one small boy decided to leg it down the beach just as my back was turned as I tried to explain to another why a recently caught crab the size of a 50pence piece with two remaining legs, now in a bucket, was almost certainly dead and unlikely to take part in any beach races. And that particularly stiff star fish that they hid in the car last time stunk to high heaven after a couple of weeks.  And no, I didn't appreciate your mother blaming me for the smell with unfounded accusations of wanton farting, so I really would prefer it if this new exceedingly dead star fish was laid to rest where you found it.

The car for weeks was almost a permanent, mobile sandpit. No matter how much vigorous shaking of shoes, clothes and boys we did, sand dunes would slowly appear in the boot.  But the boys were more than happy to spend hour after hour, digging a hole and filling it in again.  Then digging another one. Repeat until time to go home, with a small break for a sand sandwich and a melted ice cream and the periodic argument at the application of sun creams.

"Dad can't do it, he's useless...you got sunburn last time because he missed a bit. Or most of you.  He doesn't rub it in..."

Have a brew and Keep Calm...it's nearly over.

So mid afternoon it was down to the icecream booth when their mother would tell them they could have anything from the bottom lines on the ice lolly posters - mini milks etc, not the Soleros.  They still talk about that now, particularly as it was a policy enthusiastically taken up and supported by all the other mummies in the 'group'.

We did, every now and again, go to a very well known holiday resort not far away and swim in the pool there and use the rest of the facilities.  I don't want to sound ungrateful hence my reluctance to say out loud which park it was, but the pool changing rooms were always something of an experiment in whether it was possible to leave without catching something that would probably make you itch for a while. The floors of said facilities bore an uncanny resemblance to those glass plate jobs you see under microscopes. Always a potentially awkward GP-type chat.

"And where did you take the children again, you did what with them..?"

Again, the (not-so now) boys recount that when the subject is raised.

Anyway...to cooking matters.  I saw on the Facebook malarkey only recently that a mum/PChef chum was organising a Pampered Chef cooking show with her offspring.  I'm liking this.  Cook with the children, demonstrate some of the kit and how easy it is to use (childsplay etc...).

One lump, or two..?

I was never a cook by any stretch but I started venturing into the kitchen because I wanted my boys to see me cooking.  I didn't want them growing up believing cooking was exclusively 'womans work.'  We bought them a toy kitchen, I remember, and a tea set. Now not all our friends got the idea.  In fact I remember one dad being majorly dead against the concept.  But the outcome is all three do indeed now cook for themselves to varying degrees and the eldest  is probably a damn sight better than me.

Anyway I was half watching the Food Network on the tele today with Guy Fieri, and his five year old son wandered onto the set.  Accidental or a production decision, it didn't make much difference.  It gave Guy the chance to point out the importance of kids connecting with food, enjoying helping to cook and taking - as he put it - ownership of not just the food but the experience.  I'm all for that. Well...as you've heard me say on an audio post elsewhere on here, regardless of previous prejudice, the boys are coming forward in droves for food technology classes; it's the girls that are now lagging behind.

Anyway.  My aim is still to get more men involved in opportunities such as Pampered Chef.  It's ludicrous that more men are cooking than ever before and still we have yet to engage this market. I'm working on it behind the scenes with others and hopefully tangible progress will be seen soon. 

These are seriously suggested as girls school shoes on a website

That's quite enough of that for now. The point is, the school hols are almost over, a new start and the chance to keep calm and carry on with a few of the things we did with the kids over these past weeks - including cooking.

Still to finish - the collosal rows over school shoes...

'God mum, they're like well lame, you're embarrassing. I can't wear them, like a freak, I want them' cos they're dench...'

(Don't ask me, I'm just writing it down, but I suspect it's striking a chord here and there.)

That hideous experience, plus the rows over uniform is long gone for me.  Time passes. I could no longer get away with Mini Milks with my lot but at least, on the bright side, I no longer have to buy my twenty-somethings lime green swimming trunks. Or bury flippin' starfish.