Feeding Families Thru Fires and Covid
How do you feed your family when the world is burning and so is your brain? Any way you can.
Are you feeling kinda “done” with dangerous air? I am. On the west coast you can’t escape the risk of fires or Covid or the smoke. Our air varies daily from “dangerous to sensitive people” to down right “hazardous.”
The sky is dark at noon. You can smell and taste the soot in the air when you step outside. The sun is just a weird glowing orb in the sky. You can’t tell your home schooled kids to “go ride your bike” for P.E. because now even the outdoor air is a danger. No shooting hoops. No pool time without a mask on while you’re in the water. Even walking the dog has become a hazardous affair.
Everyone is stuck inside, going crazy, and the world is burning. Both literally and figuratively.
It’s enough to burn out your brain.
But while sanity has become a rare thing in the world, you, as a parent, are still expected to prepare and feed food to your children. Day in and day out. Over, and over, and over again. In the relentless responsibility of parenthood. While your heart breaks for the burning. While your heart breaks for the deaths. From the fires. From the guns. From the virus. From the hate and division sweeping the world. While you home school. While you work. While you worry. While you do laundry, clean dishes, raise unruly children. Still. Still. You must make the family meal. Again. Feed the wild beasties in your home. Again.
Sometimes it can be grounding. The family meal can be a steady routine when the world is on a wild pivot off axis.
Then again, sometimes I just need a break. We all need a break. And so, I’ve come to embrace, perhaps even to celebrate, that oh so American phenomena, The Fast Food Restaurant.
Dare I say it…? Good parenting can be burgers…from a fast food drive thru. With fries and a soda. Or some milkshake like creation. A fast food breakfast works too. Some sausage and egg creation with a great big diet cola! Yes, I know it’s a parenting sin to feed your children a dreaded fast food product. And yet, you can get out of the house and see the world in all its smoky glory AND know in your heart that you have “provided” food and sustenance for your kids.
Thanks to Covid and smoke, my family and I have now sampled the culinary offerings of a wide variety of different fast and franchised foods. Who knew that so many diverse gourmet goodies were available without even getting out of your car! Or cooking! Or grocery shopping! This is a secret that has been kept from moms everywhere. I think it’s part of a plot to keep women slaving in the kitchen to create so called “healthy food” and “family meals.”
If your kid’s home school education now includes what the “AQI” means (That’s the “air quality index” for those of you not living in smoke-n-fire country.) then chances are good you’re probably spending way, way too much time indoors. Do that for long enough and the kids forget about the outside world (short attention spans) and don’t want to go out.
Imagine if Covid and the fires were over and your kids were still in the house all day! Aaargh! So, what better parenting tool than to kill two birds with one breath of bad air. Thus, the wonder and the power of the American drive thru food dispenserarium.
Make the kids get in the car by telling them they get no food or milkshakes unless they come along. Now you’ve “gotten the kids out of the house.” One parenting star for you.
Then while you drive, discuss the horrid air quality and the science of what it can do to your lungs…science. A second parenting star for you.
At the drive thru let them pick whatever they want…learning to make choices. A third parenting star for you.
Drive to a nearby parking lot with shade and stay in the car…learning travel skills. A fourth parenting star for you.
Eat along with your kids…feeding children AND taking care of your own needs. Which takes you to SIX parenting stars! All from one simple activity. If you actually make the kids take all the food wrappers out of the car once you’re home then you can earn even more stars, but don’t ask too much of yourself right now.
Because the world is burning and maybe your brain is too. It’s okay to ease up a bit. Lower your standards to something that embraces human imperfection, weakness, and vulnerability in the face of such hard times.
Cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner may be just what your family needs right now. Or it may be just as much as youhave the heart to muster. Stale bread makes great toast and kids who learn to forage will come to love the freedom of frozen spaghetti and meatballs for breakfast and ice cream for dinner. (Protein, carbos, a veggie, and dairy!)
In the long run they’ll be fine. But to get thru day by day, you may need to grieve every now and then. To just decide that you can’t rise to perfection this day. I promise you that you are not alone. I too fail to rise to perfection pretty much every day.
I like to remember that tomorrow is another day. I can cook up everyone’s favorite tomorrow. Today I’ll embrace imperfection. It’s much more relaxing for everyone.
Hang in there! And remember, No Parent Is an Island,
Kathleen
PS. Please donate to your local food bank. Many people really need help right now.
Wishing peace and comfort to all those facing loss and sorrow from fires and guns and Covid.
