Archive for » November, 2013 «

“Mom, I need to cook you guys something.” 13-year-old announced to me out of the blue.

“That sounds good…..but why?” me.

“My Life Skills teacher told us that for extra credit, we can cook something for our families over Thanksgiving break.” 13-year-old.

“Great. You can cook the turkey.” me.

“No!” the kid laughed, “I have to cook one of the recipes we got from class.”

After reviewing all our options, we decided on garlic bread.

“All you have to do is to wait to be served, eat, and grade me on the grading paper my Life Skills teacher gave me.” 13-year-old.

Extra credit cooking grading sheet


But before I got back down to the couch, I was handed a piece of paper, with a short list of ingredients, and was immediately dispatched to the grocery story to fetch a sourdough bread, Parmesan cheese, and garlic salt.

Oh well, it is for extra credit, and we are suckers for extra credit. I went off to this unexpected shopping trip thinking happy thoughts.

When I returned, my 13-year-old took the ingredients, and ordered me out of the kitchen. Apparently, this extra credit was strictly against parental interference. I watched my young teen dropped the sourdough bread on the cutting board, and hacked at the sourdough bread, sending little pieces of bread crumbs flying in all directions.

Next, she took the butter out of our refrigerator. The butter was ice cold and unspreadable. So, the butter was butchered into ugly lumpy pieces, and roughly laid on the bread.

Then, she sprinkled garlic salt and Parmesan cheese to the bread, and put it in the oven to broil until it turned brown.

When the oven dinged, the entire kitchen and family room were filled with the delicious smell of garlic and hot butter.

The butter and the cheese had melted beautifully, leaving no evidence that they had previously looked hideous.

The garlic bread was served with a deliberate big smile, and presented with the kind of sophistication atypical with garlic bread.

The Garlic Bread presentation


As the rest of the family admired the unusual presentation, and savored the taste, the 13-year-old scrubbed the entire kitchen clean!

Kid scrubbing the kitchen clean, down to the sink!


Mrs S., THANK YOU for this brilliant idea!

All this took about 30 – 45 minutes and the kid was exhausted. That’s when I decided to read the grading sheet. At the top, I noticed something extremely depressing.

EXTRA CREDIT RECIPE
Each recipe worth 2 extra credit points

Two Points?!!


…All that work, for two extra credit points!! This poor child is still wanting to make two other recipes. Somebody need to teach this kid a thing or two about “bang for your buck.”

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“Do you have lunch money today?” I asked casually as I drove my 13-year-old to school this morning.

“…Give me a twenty.” the kid held out an open hand.

“Do you still have lunch money left?” me.

“You said that you will give me $20 a week.” 13-year-old.

Fishy….the kid is not answering my question.

“I could give you $20, but I noticed that you are eating very cheaply these days.” me.

“I still want my $20 a week!” the young teen demanded.

“Yesterday you had flatbread and some grapes…is that like a dollar fifty?” me.

“$2.25!! But that was more than what I usually spend.” kid. My 13-year-old is rather honest.

“Just look into your bag, and tell me how much money you have?” me.

Kid reached into her school bag, and counted her money.

“Thirteen dollars.” kid.

“Ha, ha, ha, that’s plenty money to buy yourself lunch for the rest of the week. Come to me when you run out of lunch money.” me.

“No! I purposely eat cheap to save my lunch money. So I can buy stuff.” 13-year-old stuck out her open hand further into my face.

School lunch tray


I pushed her hand aside.

“The lunch money is meant for you to eat a healthy and balanced lunch. You can not make money from your lunch money. Your lunch is a non-profit!” I lay down this necessary new rule.

“Oh.” kid.

Many hours later…

After school I asked her, “So what did you eat for lunch today?”

“Pizza, fries, cookie, beef jerky, apple, water, yogurt.” kid.

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