On maintenance, rules and rice noodles
Hello friends,
First - I just want to let you know, this is the first edition of Care & Feeding, an evolution of the Salt & Lemons newsletter many of you have been reading since early 2018. You can read more about my idea for it here. I’m playing around with length, format, topics to include - so let me know what you want to see! I hope you stick around.
Can I tell you about tree in our front yard?
It’s a flowering crabapple - birds descend on it for the shiny red berries hanging off the end of every branch. For them, it’s a food source; for me, it’s a source of birdsong. The skinny branches arc across our tiny lawn, shading the grass and filtering the light through the leaves. Just starting to turn ochre at the edges, when the leaves fall, fully yellow, they’ll leave a blanket on the sidewalk.
I know I’m part of a tribe that gets mad at Halloween candy in stores after Labor Day, rolls their eyes at people in boots and scarves in September, and requires a gradual shift from summer to fall. Once I get the cues from the light, the air, the trees, I’m ready. I can let summer go and embrace the beginning that follows the end.
My goal for this school year is to get better at maintaining structure, routine, and expectations for the kids. I have a feeling that if I can be consistent about the maintenance, we can have calmer time at home and better days at school. This goes for everything from reinforcing our evening routines, to holding the line on video game time, to following through on consequences (both positive and negative) more coherently.
Consistency is not my strong suit, but I’m pretty good at making small tweaks toward a larger goal (I just need practice making the tweaks stick/add up). So - in the spirit of fresh starts, here are a few small changes I’m making to get better at maintenance when it comes to household routines and rules.
I will put my phone away from the time the kids get home until they go to bed. I hope it makes me more mindful of how I’m focusing my energy in the evening. Why is this so hard?
I will work toward the goal of not drinking alcohol Sunday through Friday. Anyone want to join me? I could use a buddy here.
I will not cook dinner every night of the week.
This all sounds like taking better care of myself, which can and should exist for its own sake - but when you realize taking better care of yourself helps you take better care of others -
CARE FOR
In this section, I highlight stuff that gets me thinking about the forms and functions of care and how we express it. Have something you want to share? Tell me!
OURSELVES: I saw Lizzo perform! She radiated joy and it was an ecstatic experience. Her self-love is infectious, by design. On our podcast Made Fresh, we talk about how the practice of self-care can lead to self-love .
EACH OTHER: The more I learn about the history of race-based laws in this country, the more I feel moved to act. I’ve been learning some about MassPOWER, a prisoner-led organization with the aim of restoring voting rights to people in prison. Here’s more about it.
THE PLANET: Since 2017, the current administration has repealed or initiated repeal of 85 environmental rules and regulations. From attempting to overturn the Clean Power Plan, to revoking a rule that kept mining companies from dumping toxic waste into streams, their absolute inability to care about the common good is one of many reasons why we’re heading to the Global Climate Strike later today.
Parents - how are you talking to your kids about climate change? I want to hear all about it. I’ve definitely freaked my guys out and felt badly about it later.
WE ALL GOTTA EAT:
It’s true. Here’s one thing I’m cooking these days:
Stir fried rice noodles with whatever you have: I use the wider, flat noodles that are sometimes called pad Thai noodles, sometimes called stir-fry rice noodles.
Stir-fry is better when you go easy on the vegetables (1 or 2 types, chopped into small pieces, plus scallions, garlic and ginger), make sure there’s more rice or noodles than veggies, and call it a day.
Get the water going, grab the vegetable that needs eating, cut to a medium dice, drop the noodles in the water, and organize the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sugar.
Drain the noodles, heat a wok or large skillet on high heat, and add a large glug of oil. Add your hardest veg first. Wait a minute, then start stirring. Add garlic and ginger, stir, add some soy-sugar-fish sauce, stir, add the noodles, stir, add more soy-sugar-fish sauce, stir, stir, stir, add a splash of water if sticking. Stir, turn off heat, and serve. Sprinkle crushed peanuts over the top. Lime juice? Hot sauce? Up to you.
NOTE: To include protein, throw it in first, cook it most of the way through, then remove, set aside, make the stir-fry as directed above, and add the protein back toward the end to cook through and mix with the rest of the stuff.
Have a great weekend all. Oodles of noodles,
Leigh