Is there an activity that is necessary but you’d rather lick the tar off the pavement than do it? What to do if there is absolutely no way of getting out of doing it? Suck it up and do it or find another solution?
Why I don’t love to cook?
For me, an activity I could not care less for is cooking. To say I don’t love it would be an understatement. However, the family needs to eat… Although, they say a person can survive quite a while without food, as long as they have water I feel it’s my responsibility as a mother and a wife to make sure they have something to eat. Just serving them tap water would probably not earn me many brownie points… Which is why I found myself by the stove again last night.
It was rather peaceful in the kitchen since the boys were busy turning our living room couch into an amusement park. Not completely peaceful, of course, since we have an open kitchen but it was a calm evening in general. I could hear that the amusement park was raking in some serious cash from ticket sales and different attractions were gaining popularity. I have already made peace with the notion that it is better to buy a new couch in a few years than constantly being the party pooper and denying them of their fun.
I figured I might as well take advantage of the peaceful evening and I put on the audiobook I hadn’t had time to finish yet. Suddenly, I realized that cooking can be rather tolerable when I can do something useful at the same time. Not enjoyable but tolerable…let’s not get carried away here. Then it hit me, the biggest reason why I don’t like to cook is that it seems like a huge waste of time.
Why?
Firstly, I think we’ve established that I don’t like it. Second, the chance of my boys enjoying my culinary masterpiece is 50/40. My husband at least SAYS he appreciates it but he also knows that happy life, happy wife. The fact of the matter is, the time I spend slaving away at the stove is rewarded by a leaning tower of dirty dishes, a floor covered in food scraps and I just know that they will be back for snacks as soon as they’re done with their bath. I swear the fridge door gets opened more often than any other door in the house.
It’s different with cleaning. If I time it right then the house stays clean all night and it’s a joy waking up to a clean house. At least until my little rascals wake up. It is much worse with making dinner. Even if the dinner is a success, everyone is starving by morning if not earlier.
When something isn’t working then you don’t need to change what you’re doing but how you’re doing it.
As I have written on my main page, I really like the idea that if something isn’t working then you don’t need to change what you’re doing but how you’re doing it. Sometimes we follow the old beaten path with a blindfold on without realizing that there are other paths one can take. All it takes is courage and creativity to find the best one for YOU. We can either change the way we do things or change our attitude towards them.
How I changed my attitude about cooking?
Cooking didn’t seem such an annoying task after I figured out what bothered me so much about it and how I could change it. If someone is in the kitchen with me then that can turn into quality time with them. If not, it’s a chance to use the time to educate myself. Either way, the outcome has turned into something better than being met with empty stomachs only a couple of hours after dinner time.
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One Response
Great story, Annika! 😊 I feel the same way with doing laundry. I feel that the pile of clothes that needs to be washed never gets smaller. Ok, it is easy to put clothes to the washer and dryer, but really did not like to put clothes back to where they belong. Until I discovered it can be turned into a game. I put all clean clothes on a bed and my 3 year old came to help pair socks, find all her pajamas, find sister’s t-shirts and so on. Sometimes both girls want to come and help.