A Day Off For Mom?

About author / Pamela Chester

Mom of two; graduate French Culinary Institute; kids cooking program instructor; Master's degree in food studies. Creates kid friendly foods and loves her slow cooker.

The ideal Mother’s Day morning goes something like this: mom gets to sleep in until a decent hour for once. The scent of freshly brewing coffee and a homemade breakfast in bed drift into her bedroom and gently wakes her up. The kids, with dad’s help, have prepared a sumptuous morning feast, AND cleaned up the kitchen. Mom gets a day to just relax and kick back, being pampered by husband and kids.

But if you are a mom of very young children like me, you can picture a scenario more like the following: The baby awakens at the usual first sign of daybreak, calling out his chosen babble word of the day. With the sonar-like hearing that only a mother can possess, you’re awakened out of a deep early morning slumber. You figure since you’re husband is still snoring, it might just be easier to go tend to the little one yourself.

Once you can convince the baby to go back to sleep until a more reasonable time, older children have heard the commotion and awaken to get themselves a drink. You amble to the kitchen to intercept the mess in order to help them (and to get a much needed cup of joe) and then while you’re there, decide you might as well unload the dishwasher to get a jump-start on the day. Husband comes down and shoos you out of the kitchen, so off you go with your newspaper or chosen news reading device, and try to relax in bed for a while.

As you start to doze off while sitting up, a horrific racket startles you awake. You decide to go investigate for signs of bloodshed or an impending emergency room trip. Nope, it was just your preschooler, trying to help dad find just the right pan to make his puffy, oven baked German pancakes.

So in order to keep the kids out of dad’s hair for his ambitious breakfast plans, you get on the floor and play with them for half an hour. Finally, dad calls everyone over to his wonderful breakfast, but by the time everyone is situated and ready to eat, his soufflé-like pancake has deflated. Nevertheless, the German pancakes (also known as a Dutch baby), topped with fresh fruit and powdered sugar, are still beautiful and delicious, and you assure everyone of that fact.

While I might, in an overly chaotic moment, long for the perfect first scenario, I wouldn’t trade in my messy reality, which is more like the second case, for a minute. The days of young childhood go by all too quickly, and it is on days like Mother’s Day, that I reflect on that fact. It won’t be long before my kids won’t have quite so many immediate needs, and my husband and I will be able to cook a meal in the kitchen without interruption or lots of “help”. We’ll be able to make soufflés and all kinds of other dishes that require last minute preparation. It might even seem too quiet.

I really do believe it is out of situations like the second one, that the best memories are created. Plus, it’s really true that any meal you don’t cook yourself just tastes better. To be honest, I’d be thrilled if my husband and kids brought home some donut holes or made a frozen breakfast out of a box on Mother’s Day.

So here’s to a mother’s life, in all its chaotic glory. Happy Mother’s Day!

Serves/Makes: 4

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 quart strawberries, trimmed and sliced
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar