Doing what we hate for those we love

Baking is what I like to call a science. There is a prescribed method with detailed instructions for each step. Baking requires exactness, precision, attention and awareness. All the things I seem to lack. My skills lie in the joking, fun, good enough slap it together kind of arena. 

We usually dismiss the things we're not good at it. Dismissed because it just plain doesn't interest you. Or maybe there's a different reason? Maybe you believe that you'll never be creative. So the thought of doing a coloring sheet with your child makes you feel inadequate. Maybe you can't go upstairs without huffing and puffing (raises hand) so going out to a playground makes you tired just thinking about it. Perhaps you were told in gym class that you have poor hand eye coordination, so playing a console game with your tween makes you break out in a cold sweat. Whatever your reason for not trying something new, or going back to something you know you suck at, try and get over it. Because unless we are willing to try new things, we can not grow.

So that is why I continue to try and make what the one thing my children love above all other things, at least food wise. Cookies. Or really anything based on white refined sugar. If you're looking for some tips on how to make baking healthy, you're going to have to go elsewhere. Cause I'm having a hard enough time baking with traditional ingredients. 

I do keep trying. Trying to become better at a skill I have no real knack for. Because it matters to my kids. There is something comforting and peaceful about knowing the one you love cares enough about you that they are willing to keep doing something they hate because they know you love it. 

It's not just baking that I do even though I hate it. I also play strategy games, dice games, games built in worlds I could never imagine because it gives me an opportunity to enter the world my sons are in so much. I go to hobby and game stores because my husband has a passion and gift at creating things out of nothing but an imagination. I go outside and have picnics, get in the pool and jump on the play ground with my daughter because she loves it. Even if I only participate for a few minutes, I am still showing her love. 

And it's not all one-sided. My family members do the things I like to do as well. They go to the museum and art fairs. We listen to the symphony and books on cd on long car rides. We also have quiet afternoons at the library whenever we can. 

I've even been surprised a time or two when I have watched something I initially cringed at. Like a kids movie I initially dismissed as ridiculous and inane. But when I share in the laughter and fun with the family, it becomes something sacred and meaningful. 

So go on, try something new today. Something your partner or a kid has brought to you, but you dismissed it.

Because we love each other, we are willing to try new things for each other.