Photo Week #21

A week filled with interesting and good food, which is always a fun week. Cooked a lot! Not pictured are the two long braises I did over the weekend and our hotpot night (which had the unfortunate ending of discovering that the hotpot broth had milk in it - luckily Junie just got a bit itchy but we gave her some Benadryl and then called it for dinner and ate after she went to bed). I also got the chance to have Philz coffee by myself and coffee with Justine - both equally revitalizing in their own way.

I think Junie knows how to access the camera on iPhones now, and with some prompting can actually take a photo. Please enjoy her latest works, "Mom Eating Rib" and "Block Still Life".

I was thinking yesterday about how sometimes I have the bad habit of thinking of Junie and taking care of her as something I can "figure out" when really, she is a little human and there's nothing I can "figure out"! As much as I'd like to be able to unlock the secret to getting her to cover her eyes properly during the bath or eat vegetables or listen to instructions... she's not code that needs to be debugged. There may be some things that I can optimize or figure out - like, when she's hungrier she's more receptive to being spoon fed some small bites of spinach - but for the most part... gotta just roll with the toddler roller coaster of life.

Anyways, that's my recent musing on parenting and how sometimes I feel like I don't have a natural instinct for motherhood. But I guess I am doing the best I can  - and also, I am more than just a mom! In the same way that I am more than just a software engineer and my job does not define me - neither does motherhood!! All I can do is work hard and do my best. Yes. Pep talk for myself heading into a summer when I may be unemployed and questioning who I am and what I am doing with my life...