One of my greatest joys comes from teaching. Since I decided to take the semester off to give Genevieve a little more Mama time, I had been missing my cooking students. Luckily, Liev’s preschool class came over and gave me a little taste of the mess, the chaos, and the fun of teaching children about food and how to cook.
We made our TYM heirloom recipe, Sweet Potato Casserole with Caramelized Pecans and Crunchy Marshmallows. It is definitely a fun recipe to make again and again, and the children, even if they want nothing to do with the other ingredients, generally get interested in the marshmallows.
I just love how children say what they think, whether that is “YUM!” or “YUCK!”. I love how they get completely absorbed in the making of things. I don’t always love when they fight, but it makes the conflict resolution moments so much sweeter. And, when I see a kid who has come to my cooking classes as a two or three-year-old out and about in Tribeca and they tell me what they are up to and add in details about what they have been cooking with their family, it makes my day.
As we move toward January and the class season that lies ahead, I am beginning to feel a lot of excitement, a lot of ideas swirling around, and a real joy about being able to teach again.
And you? What gives you JOY today?
My Corner Views have been few and far between these past months, but I hope the other CV’ers don’t mind me jumping in whenever I have a moment. To check out other JOYful offerings, check out Francesca’s blog and these, too:
jane – ian – joyce – francesca – kasia –isabelle – janis – kari – jgy – lise – cate –otli – dorte– ali– sunnymama– daan–ibb– kelleyn– ninja– theresa – cherry b – cole – lucylaine – skywriting– anna– rosamaría – tikjewit – juniper–valerie – mlle paradis– wander chow–don –flowtops – susanna– tania –kristin
Genevieve and Mira both got to wear Oliver + S’s Apple Picking Dresses for Thanksgiving. Since M was still at school the day that I posted a sneak peek at G’s (check it out here), we had to do a separate post about the big girl version.
Recently, Mira has passed out of the ALL-pink-ALL-the-time phase and is more open to colors like red and black. When choosing the fabric for her dress, I went into the deep dark corners of my fabric stash and pulled out this Japanese gingham. It has been sitting around for about three years now, just waiting till the day that Mira could wear it with respect.
Not only does Mira have respect for the red now, she has a really great eye for accessorizing and wanted to share her ideas for what you should wear with this outfit. Unfortunately, her red tights were in the wash. You’ll just have to visualize. The rest, though is right there. She made that necklace herself by the way, and it totally pulls together the colors of the dress and sweater. Accessorizing does not have to be expensive. But, it does require some imagination.
Mira also wanted to demonstrate a twirl.
Any questions? I promise to ask our resident stylist and twirl master and get back to you.
Thanksgiving, being a time to take a breath and really enjoy the bloom of the moment, was extra special for me this year. The past few months have been colored by so much love: welcoming Genevieve into our little family, watching Mira enter the first grade and just become the most caring, articulate, active six year old, getting reports back from Liev’s school that he is a leader in his class, that he is intolerant of bullying and is becoming quite the musician, and feeling the daily support of my husband. Without Sean, I could not do a 10th of what I get to do. It has also been a very hard and exhausting time spending so many sleepless nights up with G, narrowly surviving the hurricane during what was our only vacation of the year and having to return to New York early, having to handle, with compassion and firmness, a kleptomaniac teenage babysitter, a baby who does not nap at all, often not being able to get a single thing done, including writing in this space, and the general growing pains that come with adding a new sibling into a family.
It has been, all through this, my intention to remain in touch with the moment, to be grateful at each turn, good or bad, with all the love that permeates my life. Daily, it seems, I must make the choice to live in that place. Sometimes it is the easiest thing ever. Other days, my friends, not so much. (Have you, too, gone five days on about ten hours of sleep?)
There are moments when I get a glimpse into how all the love that Sean and I pour into our home and our family is affecting our children. On Wednesday and yesterday, Mira and Liev and even little Genevieve gave us one of those glimpses.
Darling Sous-Chefs, Amazing Children who know already how very loved you are, my children, thank you. I am so grateful.
Oh my! It seems like every dress sewn in little sizes looks ridiculously cute.
Gigi is modeling the Apple Picking Dress (pattern by my fave, Oliver + S, of course) here. It is her special Thanksgiving dress, and her big sis will have a much bigger one made up in a different fabric to wear to Thursday’s feast. Genevieve wanted to give you a little sneak peek and demonstrate some yoga moves for good digestion. Her mama does want to throw in that maybe you’d want to work in bare feet, though. Just sayin’.
