The Dirty Dozen

The Kiddo is getting older and one of the nice things with that is that she is a little bit more independent and that’s better for everyone.  She’s washing herself up after meals, grabbing or putting things away as she wants or needs them, and dressing and changing herself during the day as needed (in and out of swimsuits, jammies, etc). 

So, today I was getting the kitchen prepped so I could do meal prep.  Someone (not naming any names) decided that she wanted to help.  By help, it was asking a million questions.  That’s cool, though, because I’m still cooking and prepping and she can be included and learn and ask and see and foster a desire or even just a day to day understanding of kitchen safety, foods, flavors, and a basic understanding of meal prep and meal time.  Might be an important skill for her one day with a place of her own or family of her own one day.  It’s to the point, now, that she is helping with pinches of salt, pepper, sugar, and other spices, but also, we’ve been working on knife skills.  Not that I just toss her a knife and a board and let her go to town.  She’s YEARS from that.  She does, however, help ME with my cutting and chopping.  Holding her hands over mine or with my hands covering and controlling the knife, but she can help and feel the cut and pull and slide of the knife.  We can talk about good cuts and bad.  She can she my hands and curled fingers that are safe with chopping.  She’s learning and she knows.  To the point that she will remind me when I fall into bad habits.  

Oh, and if you need a cuncumber (it’s starting to be CUCumber more and more :( and that’s sad Dada) or carrot peeled, let me tell you, Kiddo is a pro!

I made a slaw today, since I had carrots (see aforementioned peeler pro) and three different cabbages (red, green, and chinese/napa) and we’re having air fried chicken wangs (that’s right, we don’t mess with wings, we straight up wang) and potatoes.  A nice coleslaw would be great.  Besides, the way I make it, it’s a blend of a mayo based and a vinegar based slaw, but instead of vinegar, I use citrus juice.  Lime today.  She helped roll the lime to make it easier to juice.  Helped with the peeling.  Asked a LOT of questions.  Generally made a cuteness of herself. 

She got her stool so she could see and help.  Then put it away.  Threw things away from me.  Peeled.  And made it so much fun.  

I love connecting with her that way.  That’s just Kiddo and Dada time.  It’s just us.  J doesn’t cook much, but when she does, it’s pancakes on Saturday mornings.  That’s Kiddo and Mumma time.  With me, though, it’s different.  It’s not that she helps with a certain meal, she will see me cooking and want to help.  Pork chops the other day, chicken tacos including making guacamole and she even helped mash the avocado, and today the wangs and slaw.   

And she will try ANYthing while cooking with Dada.  Cabbage today.  Yup, raw cabbage.  Carrots.  Onions.  Garlic.  Ginger.  A raw potato.  A raw sweet potato.  If it’s safe to eat, I let her try.  Best way to learn.  Both flavors and preferences.  And in the case of raw potatoes, she’s quick to spit them out, but we can then talk about it and it gives her a taste and texture point once the food is cooked or assembled.

She is my happy place.  

Earlier today, I was back to the docs office to follow up on the growth that I found on my left testicle a few months back.  Xray (with and without contrast) and ultrasound show that the mass is approx the same size (3-5cm) and pain is manageable, so we are going to run three months of meds.  If that doesn’t tamp this down, it’ll be removed.  So, looks like there is a coin flip chance that I will need to get my 12th major surgery.  

This scares me a bit.  Twelve.  12.  A dozen.  And I’m 44.  Foot, hip, heart, lungs, shoulder, stomach, bone, cancer, and testicles.  So, it’s not like it’s one thing that just needed repeated correction.  It’s a whole body thing.  It’s a little emotionally exhausting, sometimes.  Physically, it is really a beast.  I have a cheat sheet with surgery type, doctor, date, location, and needed notes.  Plus medication allergies and sensitivities.  OTC meds taken.  Take that and think about adding another date and surgery to that…. It just makes me need to take a breath.  

The best news, however, is that I’m in an amazing place for health and care.  Especially surgical.  Especially on reproductive organs.  So, that’s the good news.  And it’s still just a coin flip, but were I a betting man… Wait.  I AM a betting man.  I’ll bet it all on this Daily Double, Alex. 

Oh, a closing note.  If you have Netflix and haven’t started watching Better Call Saul yet, well, that’s on you.  It’s a slow burn, but once it’s going… Buckle the hell up!  If you haven’t seen Breaking Bad, maybe you watch that first.  Also, to my 80s geeks or anyone over 40ish, check out Cobra Kai.  It’s got some cheese to it.  Of course it does.  They leaned into that.  And made a really really entertaining show and is very true to the source material.  And it’s fun.  It is just fun in a cheesy, campy, 80s kind of way.