Took my sister to a cafe today. Woman sitting near us, out with some friends and her three utterly lovely daughters. Probably aged between 6 and 12. She obviously loved being a Mum and had a very good relationship with her girls.
Thought I was going to cry. Hid behind my newspaper and regained some composure.
Emotions are very funny things. Haven't felt like this since we were in Africa last year and I was surrounded by mozambiquan orphans calling me 'Mama Caterina' and fellow visitors from the UK in their early 20's referring to Andy and I as 'parent figures'. The orphans were endearing (when they weren't on the scrounge). The twenty year olds wanting to call us Mum and Dad was just plain scary.
This particular wave of sadness has caught me completely by surprise. Really genuinely thought I was over all that.
It'll pass. There are worse things in life. Like the state of my kitchen. My sister likes Chinese food, so we've been cooking Chinese tonight. The kitchen looks as if something very dark and terrible has occurred in it. The problem is that my darling husband does not believe that it is possible to have a chinese meal that doesn't involve creating a banquet. This was meant to be simple, but it was inevitably preceeded by a trip to the local chinese supermarket and perusal of the recipe books. Then Andy gets excited by all the possibilities. I like this exuberance and energy and enthusiasm, but it don't half make a mess of the kitchen.
We didn't cook nearly as much as the last time, but we did have prawn crackers, pork dumplings, spare ribs and spring rolls for starters. Followed by pad thai noodles, egg fried rice, scallops with ginger and creme fraiche (not really Chinese, but very nice), and beef with orange and ginger. There was meant to be pork and cashew nut stir fry, but we really couldn't eat any more.
Asked my sister what she liked best. The spring rolls and the egg fried rice. Will bear this in mind for future occasions. Spring rolls and egg fried rice sounds wonderfully simple! She liked making the dumplings though.
Going to bed now. Will sort the kitchen in the morning. Think a small thermo-nuclear device might just do the trick...
Sometimes I also feel exactly how you felt seeing those children. God wouldn't give you the heart for children without doing something about it. You will be a mother one day, you have to believe.
ReplyDeleteAnd Yum, all this Chinese food sounds delicious!! You are so blessed to have a cooking husband.