j. rosenstrach
Where: The Kitchen
When: Weeknight, Dinnertime
Who: Mother (in untucked work clothes and flip flops, loose pony-tail); Her 8-year-old daughter doing homework at kitchen table
6:30PM
8-Year-Old: Mom? What’s for dinner?
Mom: Bean cakes.
8YO: Mo-om! What’s a bean cake? [Pause.] I’m not eating a bean cake.
[Critical juncture: Does Mom engage? It would be SO fun to engage, she thinks. Does she use logic? i.e. You love beans, you love cake! You'll love bean cakes! Mom does neither.]
Mom: Ok, you don’t have to eat them. [Blase, casual.] You know there is always something on the table that you’ll like.
8YO: [Somewhat taken aback by lack of engagement.] OK.
6:40PM
8YO: Do I have to eat a bean cake, Mom?
Mom: No, I said you didn’t have to. [Flipping a hot one in front of 8YO's counter-high nose.]
8YO: Maybe I’ll try a bite. But only a bite.
Mom: OK.
8YO: Fine. I will only have two whole bean cakes if I can have sour cream on them.
Jenny Rosenstrach is a writer, editor and mom of two young girls. She writes the blog Dinner: A Love Story
How often do you cook meatless meals at home? Chime in below!
Like this? Read these!
- Mario Batali Adopts Meatless Mondays
- Recipes for Meatless Meals
- The Alternative to Red Meat
- See all of Jenny's posts here
