By Friday night, enough was enough. Poor Laura and her bad decisions in this
detachment portion of teen age life. I’ve already encountered several
detachments, and kicked them to the curb. The super blunt, for instance.
I
wonder if I even mentioned all the phone apps that permit teenagers to talk to
anybody about anything, and there is no record. All while being under the age
of consent and using a phone they aren’t paying for! And now Zuckerberg is
buying the apps. I don’t know how parents keep up with it. I took the phone.
Anyway, come Friday night and three straight nights of water
soup, I’d had it. For anyone who has heard of our family Grandpa
Soup, no, it’s not. Nor is it Stone Soup, which winds up as loaded and good as
Grandpa Soup.
No, Water Soup, with leftovers, is made from half a chicken
breast, one carrot, one stalk of celery, a few thin noodles, and water. “Did we
run out of food this week?” I asked the cook.
I added my own list of
ingredients to today’s shopping list. Mine included artichoke hearts, in a can,
half and half, cheese ravioli (from the refrigerator section, not a box), and a
couple of cheeses. Oh, yes, red pepper flakes and basil. And other stuff. Peas.
I remember peas.
It was for a new recipe I’d printed to use when I cook
again. Laura has a portfolio of recipes I’ve given her over the years, most
made once and filed. She is a college cook, mac and cheese in a bowl. Now it
must include meat and a veg, to pass grandma’s inspection. But this week we
have degenerated to Water Soup. So I presented the list of ingredients for
Cheese Ravioli with Artichoke Sauce.
After lunch I made a new loaf of Boston Brown Bread, cleaned
the kitchen and retired to the loom. At the usual time, and with only three
bouts of new warp left to tie on, I heard “Supper’s ready” at the usual time.
Supper still was presented in a bowl, and it was good. I glanced
at Laura’s face, and we both agreed the red pepper flakes will be halved, come
future. “Did it take long?” I asked. She
may have begun quite early, for all I knew, to put supper on the table at the
same time. “The usual,” she replied.
Well, it looks good. This must be a very difficult time. I'm sorry.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary. It's called "marking time", for both of us. I know she will be OK.
DeleteWhich is a relief, however hard it is now
DeleteThe atmosphere in a house where there is an angry teenager is one of the most oppressive I know. The adult can do nothing right . . . I wish you a peace of sorts while you both must live under one roof, and a real peace and understanding as Laura gets older.
ReplyDeleteAnd water soup sucks.
I've heard a lot about apps that leave no record...our previous governor (who was in office for a little over a year before he resigned) was accused of using them for official business.
ReplyDeleteRather disappointing to be served water soup by a child who now knows how to cook.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about apps, I have several on my phone that load themselves and I haven't a clue what they are for, I simply don't use them. I've thought about downloading the "real time" bus app that tells you where your bus is and how many minutes before it arrives, but I really don't need even that.
I certainly wouldn't bother with any of the communication apps apart from the talking and texting I currently do. So many of those are designed simply to keep people attached to their phones when they should be attached to real life.
I hope that the marking time moves into a more comfortable and pleasant rhythm.
ReplyDeleteWater soup? Bleah. Glad that you got an improvement - at the usual time too.
Had I had a child, then I might have had one going through the teenage years now. I cannot fathom dealing with teens and their use of technology. How to shield them from/talk with about some of the more unsavory bits? Oi vey.
ReplyDeleteDinner looks tasty.
Oh how I wish Laura would become more mature suddenly. I know it's a process but I know you had such hopes.
ReplyDeleteFive of my six grandchildren are teenagers. I am glad that their parents don’t share details with me.
ReplyDeleteTough to have twice as much red pepper flakes as needed/wanted....But it looks like she did a pretty good job. I am so sorry you are having to go through all this opposition. I am sure someday Laura will realize all you did for her, because you love her. It takes time. Find joy every day!
ReplyDeleteI just wrote a comment and it disappeared when I published. I hope it goes through this time.
ReplyDeleteI think you're wonderful that you are their for your grandchildren. The teenage years are indeed difficult. I remember.
I'm making stone soup tomorrow, minus the stone.
Many of those apps are dangerous. There are apps that look a game or calculator and are actually some hidden texting app underneath. The makers know what people are using them for.
ReplyDeleteI would considering replacing the smartphone with a flip phone.
I searched "what can be hidden in apps". Well, now I know. Thanks, Bill.
DeleteLaura will be OK, and so will you Joanne.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up through one's teenage years is so hard these days - but one day Laura will look back and thank you for the care and the love you have given her.
ReplyDeleteThat pasta looks delicious - wish somebody would put that in front of me without my lifting a finger to make it.
I make what I call fridge bottom soup on Mondays. It consists of whatever veg are left in the veg drawer of the fridge - usually a couple of carrots, a bit of celery, an onion, a potato, a couple of leeks - that sort of thing.
Hari OM
ReplyDeletemmmmmmmmmmmm you got me at cheese ravioli! Well done to Laura for taking up the suggestion. YAM xx
Several days of it sounds a little much, but the end dish looked good although a little too hot for my taste.
ReplyDeleteNew here, seems like I have a lot of catching up to do?
ReplyDeleteLX
I am not looking forward to the teenage years for our three grandchildren. Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine's wife organised a dinner party for a group of other friends, and the meal consisted of a boiled chicken with no seasoning that could be detected. It was so bland that the guests could not help commenting on it. When they were leaving, one of the wives said to her, "You must give me the recipe for your 'Chicken in Water'!"
ReplyDeleteIt looks great. Teenage years are so hard...both on the teenager and everyone else around them. She will get past that stage...it may take forty years or so....longer if she was a guy lol.
ReplyDeleteI wondered how things were going. water soup. who did she think she was punishing since she had the same for dinner? and getting her a flip phone instead of the smart phone is a good idea.
ReplyDeleteShe was buying food all day at school. She probably didn't realize I was hungry. At the bottom, she's a good child, but completely led by her mother. As Diana said, there are three of us in this relationship. We had a foot of snow overnight and she just went out to shovel. I haven't said a word about it.
DeleteHmm. Your reply puts things in a different light, Joanne. Perhaps disregard my rant above?
DeleteIt's all part of the scene, oh Jenny-o.
DeleteYour new home is indeed cuter than a bug!
ReplyDeleteNo, Water Soup might not make it to tonight's menu! But I do like the idea of someone else doing the cooking occasionally ...
ReplyDeleteWell, at least she is speaking to you. LOL Did those ravioli have a butter garlic sauce?
ReplyDeleteParenting is such a struggle now. No phones when I had my girls, but despite great grades there were flotillas of sailors and drugs. Lots of drugs. It's amazing they lived.
I know. Through it all, she's a 4. student, in engineering subjects, who will squander her talents on being a makeup artist. It's a new world, Mage.
DeleteYou are a very wise woman.
ReplyDeleteGot to feel for Laura. I'm sure she's pulled in so many different directions and trying to process it all. Deep down she's a good kid and I'm sure eventually she will come to evaluate decisions she's making and realize that some of them aren't the best ones to make. I can't imagine all the apps out there that are available and what they can or can't do. Kids are so savvy these days technology wise they are good at figuring out what they can get away with if their parents (of which I would fit into this category) were unaware of what was out there. Dinner looked delicious!
ReplyDeletebetty
Water soup? Your post reminded me that my friend just gave me a recipe that she thought I would like. It has artichoke hearts, pasta, bacon, and cannellini beans (as well as pepper flakes, garlic, parmesan and a few other seasonings. You might like it...
ReplyDeleteI love ravioli with a butter garlic sauce.
ReplyDeletehave a great day
Well I'm glad we don't parent anymore in this day and age. As to the grandchildren they're a thousand miles away and in Arizona. We rarely get to see them anyway so I can't speak to any issues with aps...:(
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to have some frozen ravioli on hand.
ReplyDeleteLaura always sounds like a great girl, must be difficult finding her way through the pressures and conflicts of life at present. I think she will get through well.
ReplyDelete