I hate baking. Lucky for me, my 11 year old does not. She baked a cake yesterday.

This cake.

All day she watched Nailed It, a baking show about cake baking competition. Then she watched some similar videos while drawing and sketching (like that cat in the picture) until suddenly, she announced she wanted to bake.

I said yes and added “clean up is part of it.”

“Boo,” she said. “Go away.”

😉

It’s sinking in, my rant speech from earlier in the week, perhaps. Maybe. Hopefully. Although it was mostly directed at the teen boy, the whole family was present when I unleashed that beast. 😶

Anyway she was still baking when I had to drop the teen off at his coach’s house. They were playing a game out of town, so he was hitching a ride with his coach since his dad was also out of town. Later, his dad met up with our boy at the game and they came home together preventing more running around for me.

Which is why I got to eat cake. ❤

When I got back from drop off she was watching Out Daughtered, a show about a young family in Texas who has quintuplets plus one older daughter, as well. It’s a very fun reality show, one of very few I can bear to watch. Basically it’s about how the parents, Adam and Danielle, deal with all the expected mayhem five 3 year old girls can cause. There are a few familiar (to me) parental challenges as well, including not being on the same page, miscommunications, and things like that (I realize some of it is scripted, but it still touches on the modern conventions of raising a family in today’s environment).

It’s a fun way to binge watch something when you have some time to kill. Yes it’s tv with commercials but it’s ok. We don’t mind, my girl and I. My slow time right now won’t last (hockey season begins mid August, don’t even talk to me…) so I’m not going to punish myself for allowing myself some downtime.

So we’re sitting on the couch, I’m simultaneously texting with a friend, ignoring the fact that it was getting on 6pm and dinner time. The girl is watching tv nearby and also chatting with friends on her phone.

“I want spaghetti,” the girl child said suddenly.

Ugh. I don’t feel like cooking and I haven’t precooked large batches of sauces I can just take out of the freezer, so I suggested gnocchi.

“I love gnocchi!” she announced and, as if I was in some alternative universe she proceeded to make them herself. They only take three minutes to cook to tender in boiling water, and she made a cheese sauce to go with them.

I was stunned. When did I show her how to make cheese sauce from scratch? She even used Parmesan, the type you have to grate yourself. 😀

I think she’s gonna be alright, this one. ❤

So my evening ended on a happy note for once. No ranting or yelling, someone else cooked dinner, I got to catch up with a friend I hadn’t talked to in a while, and…

I got to eat chocolate cake for dessert.

How is Hump Day treating you so far? 🙂