It’s such an amazing honor to be called “Mom” or any variation thereof. I get a little frisson of joy every time the big kids say it in particular. Even when it’s uttered in a tone of exasperation. Ha!
I feel like Miss Kicks has always been a part of our family. Like she was meant to be here. Like she belongs. She’s a joy to parent and spend time with. Yesterday she had a doctors appointment that lasted 2 1/2 hours (there’s nothing wrong, they’re just Very Thorough and Slow) and then we had to fly home to get Tiny from daycare and drive all the way back to the city to drop Tiny off for a visit with her family. By then Miss Kicks and I were self digesting, so we found fast food on our way home. All told, we spent about 2 1/2 hours in the car together in addition to the time at the Doctor’s. Miss Kicks remained great company the whole time, cheerfully enduring all the driving, being a great DJ. We chatted and laughed and sang along to songs and just enjoyed each other’s company. Somehow I feel like not many 16 year olds would have taken that day in stride and remained cheerful the whole time!
Then Kiddo joined us in the evening and Miss Kicks took that in stride too, being an endlessly patient big sister to our whirlwind-of-chaos middle kid.
She’s amazing. Seriously.
One day last week I received the following texts from Miss Kicks, just after her sociology class:
Apparently they showed a film in her sociology class about meat processing and it didn’t sit too well with our Miss Kicks.
I laughed a long time, looked wistfully at the chicken in my fridge, and drew up a new meal plan and grocery list. My husband has been wanting to go vegetarian for a long time, and I’ve been resisting. But with the two of them as a united force, I’ve got to cave. It’s way better for us to eat lots of vegetables and less meat anyway, soooo, it’s happening. Miss Kicks, who was previously a super picky eater, has been great about trying new vegetables (just not Brussels sprouts) and has been finding she likes most of them. I’ve joined a recipe site called Delish.com and am finding some excellent recipes there. I ordered a vegetarian cookbook too but it’s… well… stereotypical vegetarian dishes, and they’re a bit out there. I’m not sure how much I’ll use it. But delish.com has saved the day and given me two of the best recipes I’ve ever made so far.
Here’s one of them. Not good for one’s heart or waistline but good golly miss molly, it’s to die for cheesy goodness with veggies hidden inside that even the pickiest kid will eat.
This is the other amazing recipe: veggie enchiladas. We splurged on really good enchilada sauce which helped I’m sure, but these are packed with veggies if you serve them with the extra veggie toppings. I added sour cream as a side too just to make it more decadent. And they’re fantastic. Restaurant quality good.
So there you have it. What we have on our hands is a cheerful, good natured, funny, smart, vegetarian 16 year old. ❤️
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