Good-enough Parenting Is Good Enough (Watermelon Arugula Feta Salad)
I woke up today full of anxiety from the minute I opened my eyes. I’m in the middle of a move, I had a 9 to 4 meeting for my paying gig, I have a full night of work still ahead of me after I put the ChowBaby to bed, and I have dinner to serve and this post to write.
It is almost 6 pm and I sit here thinking, “I’m a ChowMama. I’ve got to cook something worthy of a post. I have to be a power of example for parents everywhere.” Well guess what? I don’t have time to cook today.
We hear that from parents a lot. I love everything you talk about, your recipes look delicious, I wish I could cook like that for my family, but I’m just too busy. Well here’s a parenting tip, one you definitely already know but, if you’re anything like me, forget all the time: parenting isn’t about being perfect. Sometimes, in fact most of the time, good-enough parenting is exactly that—it is good enough.
Being a perfect parent isn’t only impossible, it isn’t good for our kids. They need to see us make mistakes, struggle, strive, apologize, do our best, not succumb to guilt or unrealistic expectations and, most of all, forgive ourselves. That’s real life. And a big part of our job as parents is to provide safe opportunities for our kids to see and experiment with real life without the real life consequences. (I know there is tons of research out there about this, but I haven’t got time to reference a single one of them, and that’s got to be good enough today, too.)
So, in honor of good-enough parenting, I’m going to show you that the good-enough philosophy extends to cooking for our families. That you don’t have to resort to take-out when you’re too busy to make dinner. That you don’t have to make something great. That you can struggle to make something at all. That you can even feel frustrated and stressed while you make it (although we hope our tips allay that in a big way). Sure, my meal isn’t going to be fancy—in fact, it doesn’t even touch on all the major food groups. But it gets close enough. And there’s only one step that requires no “cooking” whatsoever.
And in about 5 minutes, the ChowFamily is going to sit down together at the table for Watermelon Arugula Feta Salad. We’ll talk about our day, tell a couple of jokes, and watch the rain come down outside our window. And it’s going to be perfect.
Watermelon Arugula Feta Salad
(for kids 12+ months)
1/4 organic watermelon, seeded and cubed
1 5-oz organic baby arugula (preferably prewashed to save time)
1/2 organic Vidalia onion (or red onion)
4 oz organic feta cheese, crumbled
organic balsamic vinaigrette to taste (about 1/2 cup)*
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1. Toss all ingredients in a large bowl and serve immediately.
Note: A basic vinaigrette is 2 parts oil to 1 part balsamic with a pinch of salt and a grind of pepper. I made 3/4 cup b/c it was easy to measure. Take a liquid measuring cup, fill it the the 1/2 cup mark with oil, now fill it to the 3/4 cup with balsamic. Add salt and pepper and whisk right in the cup. Use whatever you need on the salad and store the rest in the fridge.
9 Responses to “Good-enough Parenting Is Good Enough (Watermelon Arugula Feta Salad)”
June 3rd, 2009 saat: 8:21 am
true true! modeling “perfection” to children doesn’t teach them how to allow themselves to be human. my patients and I discuss this often – if children don’t see parents engage in self-care, they don’t learn to give themselves permission to give themselves a break.
June 3rd, 2009 saat: 10:53 am
yes! i think “good enough parenting” is so much better than trying to be perfect. it’s real life. best way to show the little ones how to deal with it.
i can’t tell you how many years i struggled with not being “good enough” because of the “perfect” veneer my parents displayed when i was growing up. now i know better, and am much happier for it! (not to say that i don’t sometimes fall into that evil trap of perfection…) great post.
June 4th, 2009 saat: 5:12 am
[...] salad and store the rest in the fridge. You can use the extra on something like yesterday’s Watermelon Arugula Feta Salad. Share and [...]
June 4th, 2009 saat: 10:06 pm
this looks like a perfect dinner to me, and with a not yet 2 year old and a barely 2 month old, its right down my alley as well, but how do you serve this to a 200 pound husband who needs (wants) a big meat and potatoes type meal and 2 servings of it at that. any advice on how to satisfy a hungry man with such a simple salad as “dinner’?
June 4th, 2009 saat: 10:19 pm
so funny that you ask! i *just* finished writing a post for tomorrow inspired by the same question (though, in all fairness, as you’ll read, my issue is not just my 6′4″ 200 lb husband). tomorrow’s recipe is for a healthier dessert that comes with a side of rice (just move the carb side from dinner to after dinner, and voila). i’m thinking that a big salad + a chunky hunk of bread (or a simply and quickly cooked chicken breast) + my filling dessert (which can be made ahead of time) = enough dinner to keep the chowpapa full and me feeling sure that i’ve made enough to satisfy even the hungriest members of my fam. take a look in the a.m. and let me know if you think a plan like this would work for you, too!
June 17th, 2009 saat: 5:04 am
[...] make people think we’re Supermoms. I want to set the record straight. We aren’t. And, as I’ve written before, it isn’t possible. Do the best you can. Try to make it easier on yourself by doing things [...]
July 7th, 2009 saat: 5:34 am
[...] hungry and wants to be excused from the table. You know I’m big on dinner salads (like this Watermelon Arugula Feta Salad or this Pineapple Almond Spinach Salad). Today’s summery salad took minutes to make. Was full [...]
July 22nd, 2009 saat: 12:18 pm
[...] Two no cook dinner salads that make use of summer produce: Strawberry Arugula Walnut Salad and Watermelon Arugula Feta Salad [...]
September 1st, 2009 saat: 5:37 am
[...] of the summer, I scoured some cookbooks looking for an alternative to watermelon lemonade or watermelon arugula salad and found a recipe for watermelon pudding that I adapted ever so slightly. I can’t believe [...]
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