As you may have noticed, my productivity has decreased noticeably since last summer. This is not due to lack of interest. No, this is due to lack of sleep. I have a teenager who should be going to his first period class around 9am but instead is learning trigonometry at 7:20. He has a mom who should be sleeping until 7am but is awakened over an hour before her body would like to see the light of day. All work and no sleep has made me a tired and unproductive writer.
I was once asked if I am an early bird or a night owl. "Neither," was my reply. "I am a wimp at both ends." Always have been and always will, I suspect. And so my ears perked up last week while listening to an interview with Jennifer Senior, contributing editor at New York magazine and author of a new book on parenting called All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenting. Kids, she points out, were originally part of the economic engine of a family; they were housed and fed and expected to work as soon as they were able. At the turn of the twentieth century, the movement towards child labor laws meant that parenting had to take on an entirely different role. Parenthood became sentimentalized and children became, as Senior writes, "economically worthless and emotionally priceless".
The role of a parent became much less clear, and our society became much more child-centric. This was fascinating to consider, but what really struck me was her discussion around sleep deprivation. She described the three groups that parents fall into: the first group becomes cranky but basically does okay with the constant lack of sleep; the second finds it difficult enough that parents are both cranky and compromised; the third group is made up of complete basket cases. As I listened to this young mother talk about the lasting effects of sleep deprivation, I thought to myself, "But I am less than three years away from being an empty nester. I should have graduated out of this cranky stage a long time ago!"
The statistics on parenting and happiness are sobering. Parenting does not tend to help with an adult's happiness factor, and it can be very stressful on a marriage. I remember my mom once saying she was only as happy as her least happy child. I understand this now. Parenting young children is very physically tiring; parenting teenagers drains emotionally. As they begin to spread their wings, they force parents to stand back and hope for the best. But when those wings get wet or don't work as expected, it's impossible to ignore the pain your child feels.
Don't get me wrong, however. Parenthood does have its transcendent and joyful moments. Just this morning, in a groggy state of mind, I heard my son say, "Mom, don't plan anything for dinner on Friday -- I'm cooking." It look a few moments for this to sink in. Did he just say what I thought he just said? Other than eating cookie dough, he has never shown an interest in becoming my sous chef. And then it dawned on my sleepy brain. Friday is Valentine's Day. Awwwww. I just love this kid, and I love this emotionally priceless moment. Transcendent, indeed.
As a result of all this talk about sleep, it seems appropriate to highlight a drink that involves caffeine. And with February 14th just a few days away, I share with you Cafe Amore, a delicious variation on Irish Coffee.
The recipe is fairly straight forward, but the amounts of brandy and amaretto will differ depending on the size of your glasses and the amount of added flavoring you desire. My glasses are quite hefty, and I found I could easily start with 8 ounces of coffee. I added just one sugar cube because I don't tend to like sweetened coffee. Speaking of sweetness, the brown sugar cubes came to me from my friend Nancy (along with the glasses). Funny how many drink-related gifts I have received in the last year. You all must think I do nothing but imbibe in my free time.
If you notice in the picture, these tasty little cubes came all the way from Mauritius and added a true international flavor to the drink. Irish Coffees are traditionally made with brown sugar instead of white. If you've not recently been to Mauritius, and don't have friends nice enough to help stock your cocktail supplies, you can make a brown sugar syrup. This is made just like a simple syrup with brown sugar. As you prepare the cream, whisk until just under stiff so it has no bubbles and will pour slowly.
Cafe Amore:
8 ounces coffee
1 ounce Amaretto
1 ounce brandy
1 brown sugar cube
Hand-whipped cream
Pour coffee into the glass and add the brandy, Amaretto, and sugar cube. Stir to dissolve. Carefully ladle 1 inch of cream on top and garnish with chocolate shavings. Relax and enjoy the moment, especially if your child has just fixed you dinner. Ciao.
I was once asked if I am an early bird or a night owl. "Neither," was my reply. "I am a wimp at both ends." Always have been and always will, I suspect. And so my ears perked up last week while listening to an interview with Jennifer Senior, contributing editor at New York magazine and author of a new book on parenting called All Joy and No Fun: The Paradox of Modern Parenting. Kids, she points out, were originally part of the economic engine of a family; they were housed and fed and expected to work as soon as they were able. At the turn of the twentieth century, the movement towards child labor laws meant that parenting had to take on an entirely different role. Parenthood became sentimentalized and children became, as Senior writes, "economically worthless and emotionally priceless".
The role of a parent became much less clear, and our society became much more child-centric. This was fascinating to consider, but what really struck me was her discussion around sleep deprivation. She described the three groups that parents fall into: the first group becomes cranky but basically does okay with the constant lack of sleep; the second finds it difficult enough that parents are both cranky and compromised; the third group is made up of complete basket cases. As I listened to this young mother talk about the lasting effects of sleep deprivation, I thought to myself, "But I am less than three years away from being an empty nester. I should have graduated out of this cranky stage a long time ago!"
The statistics on parenting and happiness are sobering. Parenting does not tend to help with an adult's happiness factor, and it can be very stressful on a marriage. I remember my mom once saying she was only as happy as her least happy child. I understand this now. Parenting young children is very physically tiring; parenting teenagers drains emotionally. As they begin to spread their wings, they force parents to stand back and hope for the best. But when those wings get wet or don't work as expected, it's impossible to ignore the pain your child feels.
Don't get me wrong, however. Parenthood does have its transcendent and joyful moments. Just this morning, in a groggy state of mind, I heard my son say, "Mom, don't plan anything for dinner on Friday -- I'm cooking." It look a few moments for this to sink in. Did he just say what I thought he just said? Other than eating cookie dough, he has never shown an interest in becoming my sous chef. And then it dawned on my sleepy brain. Friday is Valentine's Day. Awwwww. I just love this kid, and I love this emotionally priceless moment. Transcendent, indeed.
As a result of all this talk about sleep, it seems appropriate to highlight a drink that involves caffeine. And with February 14th just a few days away, I share with you Cafe Amore, a delicious variation on Irish Coffee.
The recipe is fairly straight forward, but the amounts of brandy and amaretto will differ depending on the size of your glasses and the amount of added flavoring you desire. My glasses are quite hefty, and I found I could easily start with 8 ounces of coffee. I added just one sugar cube because I don't tend to like sweetened coffee. Speaking of sweetness, the brown sugar cubes came to me from my friend Nancy (along with the glasses). Funny how many drink-related gifts I have received in the last year. You all must think I do nothing but imbibe in my free time.
If you notice in the picture, these tasty little cubes came all the way from Mauritius and added a true international flavor to the drink. Irish Coffees are traditionally made with brown sugar instead of white. If you've not recently been to Mauritius, and don't have friends nice enough to help stock your cocktail supplies, you can make a brown sugar syrup. This is made just like a simple syrup with brown sugar. As you prepare the cream, whisk until just under stiff so it has no bubbles and will pour slowly.
Cafe Amore:
8 ounces coffee
1 ounce Amaretto
1 ounce brandy
1 brown sugar cube
Hand-whipped cream
Pour coffee into the glass and add the brandy, Amaretto, and sugar cube. Stir to dissolve. Carefully ladle 1 inch of cream on top and garnish with chocolate shavings. Relax and enjoy the moment, especially if your child has just fixed you dinner. Ciao.
Have a wonderful Valentine's Day, Jo!
ReplyDeleteJosephine(!), I just love your style of writing and blog. It has probably been 35+ years since I have seen you but I am really happy to share this time in your life. Xo
ReplyDelete