My boys slept late today, 9am, after 6+ hours of video gaming yesterday — they were worn out.
After a leisurely breakfast and 3 mugs of dark, rich, sweet, piping hot coffee I decided to take Logan to the park so Jose Fidel could have a little “quiet time”. He caught Logan’s cold\flu from last week and has been miserable all this week while Logan has recovered. I, knock on wood, have not succumbed to the cold d’ jour — yet!
It has been a beautiful Northern California winter afternoon, 63F – sunny – blue skies. Franklin Park was packed and the shrieks of children’s laughter filled the air only interrupted by that gut wrenching cry coming from a child who just had their toy taken by another or a shoe in the face coming down the slide too many at a time. Parents love (ignore) it all and the childless singles and couples at the park all look around as if they really care. It’s more like they just want to see which is the “bad” parent at the moment. Not long ago we were this type of couple.
Making that perfect ravioli
When we came home Papa was trying his hand (again) at making homemade raviolis. He made them last weekend and did a good job for his first time. The old adage “practice makes perfect” is a truism we want to pass on to Logan. Every opportunity to share family and cultural wisdom should be recognized and acted upon. I hope we can do both in the many life lesson to come.
Rolling the pasta
Logan wanted to help roll out the pasta and try as he might he could not quite get it right. It was very hard to explain the pasta had dried out and was no longer good.
You just have to smile at the effort and how proud they are even if by adult standards it is not done correctly.
Having a child has tempered my judgment in people and what I actually expect from them. I have learned not everyone does things the way I might do them, nor to what I would hold myself to in terms of standards. Not to say that the job done is not correct and fulfills all the requirements.
They are taking shape
You can see Logan is trying to hand roll some pasta in the background as Papa continues making his perfect and very tasty morsels.
Pasta a la Papa
And here is the final result of “Pasta a la Papa”. I assure you none of it was left when we finished dinner.
Did Logan have any? “No.”, “Nope.”, “No way.” The same answer we get every meal, every day. He is a very finicky eater. Jose Fidel and I can not figure out how he gains weight when he seems to never eats anything.
I enjoy watching these extended moments when Jose Fidel and Logan are bonding. Until recently Jose Fidel worked a 9-5 job but was gone from 8-7pm. He was exhausted, loved his son, but not totally invested in what was going on. He did the best he could under the circumstances but there is only so much one can do. Recently Jose Fidel was laid off and the change in the family dynamics has been astounding. The stress level has fallen dramatically and he has time to make pasta. He has time to play video games and not snap at little things.
Strange how such a life altering changes (loosing job of 15 yrs) that are usually stressful moments in a couples life has actually been quite the opposite and allowed more family time – more bonding.
Please Tell Me 
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