Two things.
First, since it looks like my contributions to KitchenDaily.com have dwindled from weekly to bimonthly to never, I’m considering adding a recipe component here. Consider yourself warned. (Next up: artichokes!)
Second, I offer you a sampling of life with my children:
[From upstairs, an odd scuffling sound is followed by piercing shriek, followed by second odd scuffle, followed by second piercing shriek, followed by the wail of child. The wailing grows gradually louder as child descends the stairs slowly, step by step.]
[STELLA enters kitchen, holding right arm limply in front of her.]
ME: Okay, what happened?
STELLA: Lila hit me! Really hard! In my arm! [Offers me arm. I kiss her, then hold her on my lap for a moment.]
ME: What happened before that?
STELLA: You need to punish Lila!
ME: I’ll be speaking to Lila in a moment. Right now I’m speaking to you. I want to know what happened before Lila hit you.
STELLA: [Sniffs piteously] I hit Lila.
ME: I had a feeling.
STELLA: But she also hit me before that!
ME: She did? I didn’t hear that.
STELLA: Yeah! She did!
ME: ***
STELLA: …but not very hard.
ME: Okay. So even if she was being super annoying —
STELLA: She was! She was being super annoying!
ME: — but even so, do you think it was right to hit back?
STELLA: [darkly] I know it wasn’t right to hit back. But I will hit back. Because if I don’t hit back, then Lila gets the better deal.
