Who Cares?

Do you equate caring for your children and family to caring about them?  Sometimes I think if I spent less time caring for them that I could spend more time caring about them.  Today I am caring for two sick kids that continues a trend that started in mid January.  Last night Kelsey came to my bedside to say he had thrown up on the bathroom floor.  I staggered from bed and cleaned up the bathroom, (ok I wiped a towel over it with my foot) and then went to Olivia's room as I had left Kelsey in sleeping on my side of the bed that was closest to our bathroom.  I thought I would lay quietly with Olivia but she was on fire too and Ellie woke up so I spent the night moving from one bed to another only to have Olivia barfing so hard it came out her nose first thing in the morning.  I have to say I feel exhausted and yet having a nap would probably make it worse, so I do laundry, clean bathrooms and tidy up bedrooms. 

So here is my dilema.  I spend what seems like every waking hour doing laundry, making beds, running to sports and school talent shows and music lessons.  I find myself doing things "for" my kids rather than with my kids.  If I took an hour to play a board game with them I am sure they would appreciate that.  Instead I am busy picking up 1000 Poly Pocket pieces.

(Just Blackberry pictures since I was too tired to carry a kid and a camera bag!)

 Carson asleep at the Dr.  Ear Infection

Kels sleeping off a hacking cough and the pukes.  

My pretty pink princess.  

 So I wonder.... Do they know that I love them when I volunteer at their school at lunch hour? Or take them to the dentist? When I scoop poop out of leggings in the middle of potty training?  Or book an orthodontist appointment for a teenager who thinks I am ruining his life with braces?  It makes me think of all the things my parents did for me that I probably took for granted.

My awesome sitter was out with the kids when I picked them up the other day.  They were all enjoying the flash of spring.  They painted their names on colored sticks and raced them down the puddle.  They were all having so much fun I thought to myself.  I have to walk away from the washing machine once and a while and just make time to play!  

So I find myself in the grocery store choosing a recipe to make for supper that would be easy to barf up.  So here's what's for supper at the Circus House. I email myself the recipe and then use my phone to follow the recipe.

Fish Cakes

1 pound cooked, flaked fish 
2 cups mashed potatoes
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Dash each salt and pepper
1/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
Oil for frying

Combine all ingredients except the bread crumbs and oil. Shape the mixture into patties. Coat the fish patties in bread crumbs.

Preheat the oil in a skillet. Pan-fry the fish cakes in batches in hot oil until crisp and brown on one side, then turn and brown the other side. Each side will take just a few minutes. You are only trying to get the ingredients hot and the breading crispy. Everything is already cooked.

Serve with homemade tartar and wedges of lemon.

Tartar Sauce

1 tablespoon onion, grated
1 green onion, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped capers
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped or 2 tablespoons chopped dill pickles
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Cajun seasoning to your taste (optional)
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together and add salt and pepper to taste. The fresh dill is nice, but the traditional tartar sauce we see all the time has the little flecks of real pickle in it.

Courtesty www.cookingnook.com

I will let you know how it turns out and if everyone keeps it down!