I want to be a Chinese girl when I grow up.

On Monday SS and I had the following exchange as we left a store:
SS: Mama, I want to be a Chinese girl when I grow up.
Me: Sweetie, you ARE a Chinese girl; it’s how you were born, and what you will always be.
SS: No Mama, speaking Chinese, I want to be a girl speaking Chinese.
Me: So you are sure you want to learn Chinese AND Spanish?
SS: Yes Mama, I also want to wear a Chinese dress.

P was a few steps ahead, his back to us, but I knew he was doing a happy dance in his head. A few days earlier P sent me a link to something he has wanted to do since SS came home. P found a Chinese language school. There is no way that would have happened where we lived previously. Chinese school takes place on Saturdays. The school is about 22 miles from our home, but it is worth the sacrifice. Classes are 1-4 p.m. with the first two hours dedicated to language classes (oral and written, pin yin). The third hour is for enrichment programs in Chinese culture, such as Chinese cuisine, arts and crafts, children’s poetry, games, folk songs, dancing, martial arts etc.

P’s immediate reaction was let’s sign her up right now. It seems the school follows a regular school calendar year. The price is reasonable, $390 for the first child, and the kids get to do so many things. But more important, SS will be around other Chinese kids and learn about her culture. It's something we had been worried about not being able to provide for her. I disagreed with P about the timing. SS is the midst of learning a second language with a demanding curriculum. I also began to learn a second language fully (oral, written, reading) at SS’s age, but the curriculum was not as demanding. Also, I had not spent the first sixteen months of my life in a SWI, hearing a completely different third language.  I still wonder how SS will be doing at the end of her first school year. It seemed to me that adding a third language might be too much. The girl is only five years old (OK the language acquisition window begins to close at age 7). But SS opened that door without any prodding from P. She has obviously been thinking about this, and does feel the need to connect with her birth culture. I do not feel comfortable denying her the opportunity to do something we ourselves wanted for her. I will be calling the school to find out if SS can join in April.

I told P that attending Chinese school meant that SS would no longer be able to play soccer. Soccer games are on Saturdays. P quickly replied that SS will do both. Excuse me???????????? P said, in the most annoyingly calm manner, that SS can play soccer Saturday mornings, and then go to Chinese school Saturday afternoons. OK, so SS does Karate on Wednesdays, in P’s utopia soccer practice on Thursdays, soccer games Saturday morning, Chinese school Saturday afternoon. Did I mention that SS is only five years old? The man has lot the plot; he was certainly not serious, just messing with me. Nope, as unbelievable as that is, P was and remains dead serious. Anyone surprised why SS does not have a younger sibling?

Never mind the fact that the majority of SS’s soccer games took place twenty miles south of our home. In P’s rose colored world I would drive SS to her games early in the morning, come home for a shower and clothes change, and then drive twenty miles north for school. I will be clocking about 80 miles on Saturdays. Me, as in just me, because P works Saturdays. Then there’s those three hours where I can’t really leave, no way will I drive home and return. Bless P’s heart he already had a solution for me; he happily stated that they have adult Chinese classes as well. Wow, that husband of mine is one generous dude. P said that it is good for SS to be occupied. That lazy good for nothing daughter of ours needs to get off her tiny butt and do something. Is not like she was thrown overnight in a Spanish immersion program. Is not like she spent three months in karate and soccer, and is taking karate again. Is not like SS is doing homework almost every night. What is our lazy child doing with all that free time? Playing? Let's not forget Dragon Boat season, when we drive to Long Beach (70 miles one way) on Sundays. Good times ahead. Smart a$$ remarks aside, there is a great likelihood that SS will be starting Chinese school in the near future. It is also equally likely that I will be trying to learn Mandarin once SS is settled in her class. Wish me luck.

Mrs. VP told me yesterday that SS had done a wonderful job with her writing, and wanted me to go to the classroom to see.  SS was supposed to get the work done in the classroom, but she was as always painfully slow. Mrs. VP told the teacher's aide to take the page to recess, allow SS to eat her snack, then have SS finish the work before she could play. That did the trick, Mrs. O (teacher's aide) had never seen SS get anything done so fast.  Not only that, but the teachers were very pleased with SS's writing. When I showed P the picture he asked "SS did that!?" Our baby is improving, slowly but surely.

SS rocking her yellow belt, ready for class.

After warm up, Sensei went straight to sparring, and once again SS's hand was up in a millisecond. Like last time, Sensei left SS for the very end, probably hoping she would give up.  Nah, every time she was passed over made her more determined to get in there.  The problem is finding someone SS's size. She was paired with B, who is six but much bigger than SS. Their size difference made it difficult for SS to land any kicks, B's torso was beyond SS's leg reach. She had the spectators in stitches with her dancing around.  This time SS won, 3-1, and she was so proud of her tiny self.  Then my stupid phone cut of the video with a message I was out of memory. UGH. P was able to just get the last few seconds when SS is declared the winner (below).

Chilling outside.

Some of our fondest memories from living at UCR student family housing was having our meals outside on the patio. Most of our meals were eaten outside, although we had a nice dining room set. Our neighbors would ask what was the attraction. We lived in a two bedroom house with all of 805 square feet of living space.  It felt so much better to eat outside.  When P got this job, it was one of the first things that came to mind. We probably ate on our patio in the town where JJ lives a handful of times. It was always raining or too darn cold. Then in our last home, the heat could be so oppressive. As much as we wanted to dine al fresco, it took us this long to purchase a patio set.  What can I say, we procrastinate.

P woke up with a nasty cold this morning. He had spent two days with a serious headache, poor guy. But P does not like taking medication, so even though he has cough and cold medicine available, he chooses to keep hacking away. As cruddy as he was feeling, P put the table together, and SS was one excited little girl when she came home from school. We spent about an hour outside, because it is a bit cold. Our house shades our back yard, good in the high heat days, not so good days like today.  Still, we are looking forward to many meals in the back yard. 

Grandpa's latest gift arrived yesterday. I have blue kitchen tools! SQUEAL!

From Sur la table, of course.

Dinner yesterday, Indian-spiced chicken with chickpeas and spinach, made in my eggplant colored braiser. Grandpa gave us a subscription to Bon Appetit magazine. Those rich recipes are going to be the death of us. We really enjoy reading and learning about techniques and pointers. As a result P has become a Kosher salt guy, no longer finding table salt acceptable for his delicate palate.

Life in HD.

After school we headed out to do some shopping. There's a particular item I was looking for, and while striking out at many places, we were having a good time. We were cruising along a rather crowded freeway when the gas pedal got stuck.  Thankfully P was driving, and he kept his cool, at least outwardly. We are also very thankful it was not a mechanical malfunction, the pedal was stuck because of the floor mat. I did not know that until it was over. I'm certain the incident lasted seconds, but it seemed so long until we could breathe again.  Those long arms my husband has came in very handy, as he was able to pull the mat out.  There was no way my T Rex like arms would have reached that far. P and I ramming into a vehicle or a guard rail while not ideal, well, it's life; there are air bags and seat belts. The same scenario with SS in the van was simply terrifying for us. Just the thought of our baby getting hurt was more than either one of us could take. 

Now on to the subject at hand.  We finally did something we should have done last July.  It took me that long to make us vision exam appointments.  What can I say, although our coverage became effective in July, we are that lame. I guess given the amount of medical appointments P and I have racked up since, we probably did not want one more.  My prescription changed slightly, not bad for a two year lapse in examinations. Turned out that my difficulty seeing with my glasses was due to their size. I use progressive bifocals, and my lenses were not big enough. The dude who sold me the glasses at Costco should have caught that.  P's vision deteriorated more than mine. 

When it was time to order new glasses, we were given the option of digital lenses. Say what? We had not heard of those. When P asked the tech what was the difference she said like regular TV and High Definition. If P wants bells and whistles with his lenses, it is not as costly as it is for me.  Progressive lenses make everything expensive. I'm still trying to get over the sticker shock of my prescription sunglasses. I almost passed but P being P wanted me to have them. My glasses arrived last week, and WOW, it does make a difference. I immediately texted P to let him know how cool it was. I had to remove the glasses on the drive home, because it made me disoriented. Weird cool, and it did not take long to adjust after. P also noticed the marked difference. We are definitely getting them from now on.  Life is good in HD.

100th day of school project.

Another first for us as parents, we had no idea the 100th day of school was such a big deal. We received notification about the major occasion our daughter was to celebrate for the first time. The big day is Friday, February 1st.  The parents were asked to bring certain food items (except peanuts) for the kids to make a 100 trail mix with ten of each food item. We have never heard of trail mix without peanuts, but what the heck. Since Friday is so far away, the kids were to keep their alleged enthusiasm in check by working on a 100th Day project. But nothing is easy in the competitive, serious world of kinder.  The children were asked to make a poster (but only half a poster board could be used, due to space restrictions) with ten separate groups of identical items.  The items would then be labeled in increments of ten. Oh gosh, how cute is that? Not.  Seemed pretty straight forward and easy, until we read the last sentence. No food items. Say what?  Food items are the staple of elementary school projects.  Case in point, SS's cool turkey project, adorned with macaroni, rice and pinto beans.  What initially had the potential of a fun project quickly turned into a pain in the neck.  We waited until today because we are the worst procrastinators we wanted to work on it as a family. Another thing that has changed is that school projects are now family projects. Apparently the teachers have given up on expecting children to work on their own. As luck would have it P was sick, spent most of the morning and early afternoon in bed. But as a good Baba he sucked it up and joined in the fun.

First a hearty brunch for SS, to get her ready for the rigors ahead. There is a reason for the crappy, plastic cover on the table.

Once her tummy was full, SS tackled some of her homework.

I found SS in JJ's room with puzzle pieces in her shirt. Huh? She was supposed to be putting away her puzzles.  SS gathers all the pieces in her pouch, then dumps them in the bag. Cute girl, funky system.

Time to get to the project, first gather all the necessary materials. It was a real pain in the rear end to get all ten, but we managed.

There was cutting, pasting, and arranging. SS smeared glue all over, but we didn't care, all we had to do was throw the cover away.

More pasting and arranging.

Labeling

SS's caterpillar to celebrate 100 days of torture school. It is bigger than the teacher would like, but we really do not care.  We used hearts, smiley face erasers, cake shaped confetti, Spiderman checkers, Hot Wheels stickers, clips, toothpicks, birthday candles, paper clips, and bobby pins.  The bobby pins came handy as antennas. SS was pleased with our collective effort, but felt that we did not contribute enough. We cut the circles, since SS still has difficulties with cutting.  But she was responsible for gluing them and the items, and somehow she found that unfair.  Too bad SS, your father and I already completed kindergarten, and back then we were on our own.  At least we helped. :)

Although trying to find non food items was inconvenient, once we had our items we had a great time working together. But it really bothered us that food items were not acceptable.  We would understand peanuts (allergies), perishable food, and even candy (ants). SS attends a Title I school, and that means that the majority of the families are low income. SS's project cost about $20 (go Dollar store), no big deal with only one child. But there are many families with more than one child in elementary school.  I ran into one of the class mothers at the store today, she has two kids, and was in shock that they could not use dry pasta, rice and beans. For that family that is a minimum of $40, on a silly school project. Now consider a family with multiple children, who also need to purchase diapers and formula. It's just incredibly short sighted not to think about the majority of your students.  E's mother and I were discussing this today, and she reminded me that Mrs. VP does not have children, and is a dual income couple.  We are aware that her husband is a successful contractor.  P joked than when you drive a Mercedes you are not particularly concerned about the financial circumstances of those around you.  He might be right on the money (OK, pun intended), but I just can't imagine not taking in consideration the lives of the children I work and have work with for fourteen years. Another thank you to Mami and Papi for making me aware. This parenting thing was a heck of a lot more fun before formal school entered our lives. 

P is going to have to take SS to school tomorrow. It's going to take a few days to get off my high horse.

Pajama day and science club.

Yesterday was pajama day at school, and SS was very excited to be able to wear her Lego Star Wars pajamas. It was funny to see all the girlie PJs, with an astonishing amount of princesses gowns.  Not very practical in the rain and cold of the morning. SS did not even notice, mainly because as soon as we arrived the boys gathered around her eager to see what she was wearing. I do not recall there being that many special days when JJ was in school. So far we have had dress like your friend, crazy sunglasses, crazy hat, crazy socks (twice), dress in purple (anti bullying campaign), and I'm sure there are one or two I can't recall. There's another crazy hat day coming up, a super hero day, and sports day. SS will be wearing her gi.  As long as the kids are having fun.

In the afternoon was the first meeting of the Science and Engineering Club. The engineering part is such a huge stretch, but the mom who lobbied for the club is an engineer. Guess maybe that is how that ended up as part of the name. We arrived early, because I remembered how packed it was science night. I managed to get a glimpse of how crazy it gets at dismissal time for first through fifth grades. It is caused by the fact that there is no school bus service for the district. I texted P and told him I fully expect to be elsewhere in August when SS starts first grade. It's not only that it is crowded, it's how crazy people get. In the mornings there is a lot of traffic in both directions. Yesterday afternoon I saw many parents creating a third line, down the middle, as if it was the normal thing to do.  No wonder our kids are impatient and lack manners. We so called adults are doing a heck of a job modeling that atrocious behavior.

I was surprised than only seventeen kids attended. The first project was creating a paper rocket, the same project they had on science night.  SS could not have cared less that it was nothing new, she set to work and had a good time. The school principal gave the families an update on the robotics club, the one where they use Legos. I was under the impression that was why we were there. The robotics club takes a lot of time, it's quite a commitment and the principal wanted to know how many parents were willing to make that commitment. The school was granted a Lego kit, for up to six users. If more than six parents were willing to commit, the school will purchase a second kit. I did not even have to ask P because I realized I was going to be volunteered.  I am hoping that the kids who attended yesterday will be given priority for the robotics club. SS is becoming one busy young lady. All I ever did was go to school and go home.  The good thing about SS is that she will try things at least once (except swings, and the climbing structure at Mac Donald's).  That is why we strive to provide her with opportunities to explore different areas. As it turned out yesterday, it was a great way to spend a rainy afternoon. 

Shades, a must in cloudy, rainy weather.

The blurry thing coming towards me in the rocket from the kid on the left. The kids had so much fun shooting their paper rockets.

This morning, watching Transformers Prime, and keeping her pledge to eating a healthy breakfast. P found a great place for Mexican food yesterday by serendipity. It's the first place we have found in nine months that uses whole pinto beans instead of refried. Whole beans where the norm in Northern California and what we prefer. SS, like her brother, prefers monster nachos.

SS tries out her new rain boots that we bought on clearance for only $7. It helps that SS still wears a toddler size.

The woman with SS is the director of the club, and her child attends SS's school. A bonus is that she also works for the school district as the science coordinator. Needless to say it is advantageous that she volunteered to take the helm of the club.

Girl's lunch date.

"People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime..." That is so true, and that is the case with SS's best friends, K and E. K and E are so much alike, but on first impression SS is nothing like them. However, I do think both have helped SS adjust to school, as weird as it sounds. E is being raised by her maternal grandparents, just like I was. Until she met SS, E had not interacted with other children being raised by grandparents, or any adopted children.  As different as they appeared to be, the girls have that in common. E thinks of her uncle (an adult) as her older brother. And SS also has an adult older brother.

Last week we learned that E's birth mother decided to leave the country, and E is understandably devastated. E is very articulate and has more insight that most six year old kids. Still, no matter how intelligent she is,  E is only six. No matter how many times she has been told that she will never return to her birth mother's care, E still hopes that day will come. Not because she is not well cared for, and not because she does not love her grandparents. E simply wants her mother to love her, to want her, to want to change just so they can be together.

The entire family has been affected by this development, but E and her grandmother/Mama, Ms. D, are taking the brunt of the emotional toll. I offered to take SS and E to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch yesterday. The birth mother left Tuesday night, and I though E could use the distraction. As a mother, I also knew that Ms. D was barely holding it together for E's sake. She deserved time to let go, cry, and process. Yesterday morning Ms. D asked me if she could join us. She felt she needed to talk to someone. As it just happens, I am a someone.  :)

We gave the girls tokens and turned them loose, at a thankfully not very crowded CEC.  I like their stamp system, that is verified before exiting. It is not a substitute for parental supervision, but great for paranoid parents like us.  E is even louder than SS, and ten times more hyper. Between E's voice, and SS's maniacal laughter we could easily pinpoint exactly where they were.

The interesting thing about our get together is how cathartic it was to talk to Ms. D. She was also adopted, but has no knowledge about her birth parents.  Sadly, her experience as an adoptee was simply awful. But instead of being bitter, she used it as a guide of what not to do as a parent, and especially as the forever parent of a very emotionally hurt child. Our biggest difference is that Ms. D and her husband never thought they would find themselves parenting once their two children reached adulthood. They were looking forward to that time alone, that time without school schedules, homework, and little league. We were shocked to find out Ms. D is four years younger than me. We had guesstimated about six years older. But since they had children so early, we can understand their desire to just be the two of them. Unlike them, we took on this second parenting journey with eyes wide open.  We wanted it so much that we waited five years to make it a reality.

Regardless of that difference we have faced some of the same challenges, and have the same parenting values. It was good to talk to someone who had heard the let her cry it out mantra. Someone who had been urged to potty train before E was ready. Sometime who is still told she pays too much attention to her child. E has many of the fears SS has, and they are all rooted in the fear of abandonment. It's painful to watch E struggle with her reality versus her wishes.  No child should have that immense weight on their shoulders.

It made me think about SS and how different she is about her adoption. Almost six and has no interest about her birth parents. It is part of her story, the same story I have been telling her since we met. There is always the fact that she has birth parents, and more family by default in China.  Not once has SS asked about them. Sometimes I'm selfish and want her to ask. I know I'm selfish because I know I am better equipped to deal with those questions, those emotions with SS as a child. I fear that by repressing those questions, the dam will explode in her teenage years. Adolescence in emotionally charged as it is, adding a Molotov cocktail to that fire is worrisome. But as with everything else, we will deal with this at SS's pace, not ours.

The girls had a blast playing, sharing rides, and getting their pictures together. Ms. D and I had a long talk that was helpful for us both. Even if they are in our lives for just a season, we are grateful.

We are going to look into guitar lessons for SS once she is six. SS has had a love affair with music since we met. She has dallied here and there with keyboards, but since day one has been fascinated by guitars and drums. Since that fascination has not faded one bit, we think it is time to find out if SS is meant to be an air guitarist/drummer, or the real thing.

We love the leg action in the video below.

SS reminded me this morning that I neglected to take a picture of her skateboarder card yesterday. She now has street cred. Although we have no intention of ever allowing her nowhere near a skateboard.

Avocado sandwich, the breakfast of champions. SS ate every bite.

Our monster after school today.

Look who just had to have another avocado sandwich after school. SS had eaten all of her lunch and snack at school, so why not. My kids eat avocados like they are apples.

Yellow Belt Award Ceremony.

Just before the Christmas school break began, Sensei D decided to hold the yellow belt evaluations that were initially to take place last week. However, the award ceremony was held as scheduled, today, the last day of class. A lot of very excited kids waited to receive their certificate of achievement, medal for perfect attendance, and their brand new yellow belt. I was nervous about the evaluation because SS is not very coordinated, and due to her size, some of the moves are difficult for her. P reassured me that it was a social promotion, and I knew better since I took karate as a teenager, then in college, and JJ started at age eight. Still, I could not help but worry about our little girl. Today was the big day, and SS was not the only excited child there.

The kids usually run around the gym before class, but usually with a best buddy or two. This evening one of them decided that it was a great idea to start a train. SS usually stays out of big groups, and we were surprised when she joined the mayhem.

The train quickly led to falls, but thankfully SS remained on her feet.

If at first you don't succeed... Darn, two more bit the dust.

Who's up for anther try? Really? Another fall?

Time to get serious and warm up. 

Three girls in SS's class are on a campaign to get her to join their gymnastics class. SS has no interest, and even if she did, it is not going to happen. SS is fourth from the left, and as you can see she is as flexible as it gets. No need for gymnastics.

Practicing fending off bullies or abductors with K. The little boy looking at the camera tried to get in between them and practice with SS. K shooed him away.

SS's turn to receive her award.

What a feeling!

Class picture, 27 started and 17 completed the class.

SS and K wanted their picture together with Sensei D.

The kids have next week off and return January 30th, and will join a much larger, more structured class. The best part is that class will begin at 6:00 instead of 5:15 p.m.  P is not going to have to come home from work, swallow his food and hit the road. It also will get SS tired later in the evening, win win for us.


Very short, but so meaningful to us. So what if it was a social promotion, we were not sure if SS would be interested in finishing the class. We did not expect her to love her Wednesdays so much, and she is eager to return. Will it go beyond a second session, who knows? What we know is that we had a blast watching her try and succeed.



The video below was taken last week, but we held off posting it for a very good reason. Sensei surprised us by bringing two upper class kids to do what we though was a demo of sparring.  He then asked the class who wanted to spar. SS's hand was up in a millisecond. Oh hell to the no! K's mom said that Sensei would most likely not allow the little ones to spar, and that made me feel better.  Nope, SS and K eagerly held their hands up until Sensei selected them to spar against each other. WTF???? K has been rather rough with SS when he is jealous, and before class he had his sister on a choke hold. I looked to P, but did not get much from him. Because that is why we wanted SS to take the class. To develop self defense skills, to develop self discipline, to develop confidence.

JJ did spar as a white belt, but he was eight, and although the other child had a foot and twenty pounds on him, I knew JJ could handle the disparity. JJ was a very impressive white belt, and was a sturdy boy (he won).  Since SS was in a controlled environment I cringed and filmed with my phone.

Oh, the thing about waiting to post the video. We sent the video to SS's grandparents, aunt, godmother, brother and a few friends. We wanted to give the grandparents the opportunity to see the video and let us know how they felt. SS has five very opinionated grandparents, and we did not want them to see the video on the blog. As we post this not one of them has commented. Not everyone has their email sent to their cell phones like us. It is very possible that three of them have not seen it. But we know Abuela and Abuelo watch every SS video multiple times.  A few days ago P asked me what I thought about the lack of acknowledgement. Well, there are two possibilities, first, all five have yet to watch the video. Three maybe, but not the Abus, no way. The second possibility is that there's a bounty on our heads funded by the grandparents, and the hit men are on their way. At least all five of them see eye to eye on something.

SS has always been intimidated by other children, we do not know if it is because of her size, or from her life in the SWI. SS allows kids to cut in front of her, usually just leaving the line. SS allows kids to take a toy she has been playing with first. It has been painful watching her shy away. That is with shared property, God help whoever takes what SS knows is hers. We have worried since the first time we observed that behavior.

The video below is nothing out of the ordinary to anyone but us. We are darn proud (once the shock wore off) that our diminutive daughter eagerly volunteered to spar. We are bursting with pride that she got two points (out of three), because we were both scared that K would knock SS on her butt. We are in awe of the confidence SS gained in a few weeks, just by wearing her gi, yelling kiai louder than any other child, and just keeping up.  SS was and is still upset that she did not "win". But we know she will try again.

We hope one day SS realizes that she won, she won over the circumstances that brought her home. SS won because she did not think for a second that she was smaller, less agile, not as strong. SS won because she raised her hand and followed through. She won because she was confident, she was determined, and did not cry foul when K got his third point. At her age P and I would have never raised our hands, let alone put on way too big gloves and spar. SS won because once again she humbled us, reminded us what a privilege it is to be her parents. SS, we are very proud of you. Thanks for the front row seat on this amazing adventure.



PS. I appears that I was more appreciative of K than SS when I said good job K first, and more than once. I was just SO relieved that he did not hurt SS.

Baby it's still cold outside.

Twenty five degrees might not be considered cold to a lot of people, especially when it was -8 degrees in Flagstaff, Arizona. But this is Southern California, endless summer, California Dreaming, shorts and T-shirts year round. SS decided to wear her pirate skulls beanie and her skull gloves.

SS's first day back to school went well, but it tired her. She actually uttered the dreaded T word early in the evening. The T word usually sends her into a screaming fit. SS took a long bath, I read her a story, and she went to her spaceship without a complaint. She was out cold within minutes. Only if all nights were so peaceful. But then parenting would be easy, and boring.

Back to a cold reality.

It was 30 degrees when we left our house this morning. Although SS had professed a need to return to school right after Christmas, she had forgotten all about it this morning. I brought her to our bed for our morning cuddle, but SS was in no mood. She quickly disappeared under our down comforter, groaning to make it clear she did not appreciate being awaken. Twenty five minutes later SS had a better disposition, initiated cuddle time, and did not protest taking a shower. She really needed the shower in order to be fully awake. A bundled up SS was then ready to return to the school grind.

A chef's work is never done.

SS had a busy Friday, after her scooter/balance bike adventure we headed home to make Baba's favorite specialty pizza.  The fixings are simple, garlic ranch sauce, mozzarella, chicken, tomatoes, green onions, Parmesan, oregano and basil. Simple but when combined very delicious.

SS is not a fan of tomatoes and green onions on her pizza. Since she eats enough vegetables we do not care.

A very clean SS and me with flour all over my shirt. I need to invest on an apron.

This should have been the end of SS's cooking for the day, but P had a hankering for peanut butter cookies, and would not be denied. I suggested to wait until Saturday and P looked at me as though I had grown an extra head. So off to baking they went after dinner.

SS's baking tool came in very handy.

Because the cookies were not decadent enough I suggested adding Hershey's Kisses, P agreed right away.

The cookies were delicious, although I have had only one, just not a peanut cookie person. What I enjoyed the most was SS's and P's kitchen time. P is not a cook with your child person, just does not have the patience. When I tell him that it is about SS learning her way around the kitchen, he gives me the look. The look that means that it is MY job, not his. P does not get the fact that it is important for SS to learn from both of us. P gets in the kitchen to cook, and does not take kindly to interruptions. But it seems that he is OK baking with SS, so I will take what I can get.  What matters is that SS and P had kitchen time, and they enjoyed themselves.