Bacon Is My Enemy » mommy blog

Round the Dinner Table?

Giyen — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:40:14 +0000

As a kid, dinner consisted of three kids sitting around table with only the sound of clinking of chopsticks and spoons against our Corelle dishes to break the silence. Honestly, I can’t remember a single conversation over dinner that was noteworthy, but then again, I tend not to dredge up the past very often. I definitely think that dinnertime at our house was a caricature of what a stereotypical Asian dinner looked like. Kids were seen, but not heard. And much of the conversation was in Korean and, sadly, I don’t speak Korean.

As a teen, it was just my father and I. Stepmother #1 was long gone, my father had started dating and my brother and sister had moved out of the house. I spent a lot of dinners reheating leftovers and eating alone. To this day, I can’t believe I am still fond of spaghetti and burritos.

Nowadays, I am not so insistent about sitting around the dinner table. Paige and I eat at the table about 60% of the time. Sometimes we zone out and watch a movie while we eat. Sometimes I am working late and Paige makes something for herself and eats alone. Sometimes we go out and have someone else cook for us for a change. It’s a total crapshoot. A mixed bag. But it works for just the two of us and I don’t think we would be any closer if we sat around the table every single night while we ate our spaghetti and burritos. It’s inconsequential for us.

So do I think that eating together is sacred? Sure it is. But I also think there are plenty of other ways to be “present” with your kids. In the car, at night when you are snuggling or over an ice cream cone – just listen and you’ll be surprised where the conversation takes you.

Here’s what Heather Armstrong from Dooce, Mindy Roberts from The Mommy Blog and I have to say about eating together as a family:

PS. Thanks for your patience and well wishes. I will get back into regularly posting when my head is on straight. The last three weeks have kicked my ass.

Poop In My Lettuce

Giyen — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 20:24:54 +0000

Broccoli is good!

But wait, don’t eat too much broccoli!

Too much broccoli causes cancer!

Anytime I think about germs or toxins or product recalls or bird flu or conflicting medical studies, I start to get a bit paranoid. This is especially so since the media tends to gravitate on stories about things that are going to kill me.

Nowadays, I try to take a moderate approach to living. I try to do things that have the least impact on the environment, but I am also human. I make bad choices.

In the great scheme of things, I secretly think that we really have little control over our destiny. Be it God, Allah, Buddha or Ganesh – it may be that we are just hanging on to this life with just a hope and a prayer.

This week on Momversations, Alice Bradley of Finslippy asks Mindy Roberts and I about the terrors of toxins and the things that we can’t see:

It’s A Family Affair

Giyen — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:24:51 +0000

I think I would have just imploded if I was home schooled. First of all, I don’t think that there would be anyone at home to home school me. Secondarily, as a child of Korean immigrants, it was the other way around – I was often home schooling my parents. I can definitely recall quizzing my newly immigrated Korean step-mother on the naturalization questions. Or preparing the tax returns for the household. Or interpreting for my parents when they pretending that they didn’t understand English (even when they really did). You try arguing with a child who is interpreting for their parents. It shuts people down.

I think that I would make an awful home school teacher, but I applaud those that do. Teaching Paige would be something akin to this:

Me: Math is important.

Paige: Nuh-uh.

Me: Uh-huh.

Paige: Nuh-uh.

Me: Uh-uh.

Paige: Nuh-uh.

Me: Math is important BECAUSE I SAID SO AND I’M THE BOSS.

Dana Loesch from Mamalogues asks Mindy Roberts, The Mommy Blog, and I about home schooling in this episode of Momversation.

Oh yeah, just incase you wanted to get a closer look at segregation in the early 80′s, this is what it looks like:

Say You Wanna Resolution?

Giyen — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:39:51 +0000

After recording this vblog I think I have come to the conclusion that “old school” New Year’s resolutions (a.k.a. the proverbial list) are for the birds. I really like Nataly Kogan‘s ideas about setting realistic goals and then taking a moment to appreciate all that you have accomplished instead. I took her advice gosh darn it and despite how hard the road was in 2008, I left it on a high note after reflecting on what it all meant in the end.

This year, instead of my usual list of ten things I hate about myself, my resolution for 2009 is to say “yes” to things, experiences or just plain old living. I got this idea originally from a radio interview of Shauna James Ahern, but I got reminded of the power of the word “yes” when I watched the over-the-top Jim Carrey movie called “Yes Man.” I’m not a big Jim Carrey fan and I don’t particularly like his brand of humor BUT for whatever reason this movie made Paige and I howl with laughter. Perhaps it was because of all the trouble we had to go through to get to the movie theater but I actually would watch it again.

Getting back to resolutions, first thing I am going to focus on is saying “yes” to is being skinny. It’s hard to admit, but all of these years of being overweight has just basically meant that I was saying “yes” to being fat. I know it’s just semantics or word play, but somehow it totally sucks when you think about it that way. It kind of makes you … uh … accountable.

Watch the latest Momversation with Nataly, Mindy and me:

I Don’t Like My Kid’s Friends

Giyen — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:34:51 +0000

I am totally lucky in the fact that I think that all my daughter’s friends are a kick in the pants … er … except for one. I like to think that I have a high tolerance for weird behavior and kids that are normally considered “social rejects” but this kid, well this kid is just a jerk. I don’t allow her in my house anymore. I call it an act of self-love. Plus, I think it’s good to avoid situations where I want to verbally beat down a child for being mouthy and indignant (these are nice words to describe the behavior).

I don’t fault Paige for wanting to be friends with her though. I mean, she is totally funny in a way that characters in a Judd Apatow movie are funny. Teens love that. As an adult, it’s a nightmare to supervise. All you can do is send them home and never ever ever invite them over again.

And never make eye contact with their parents when you see them.

I like knowing that my fellow cohorts at Momversation totally avoid people who have kids like that. Makes me feel like I’m not alone.

Featuring the lovely:

Mindy Roberts from The Mommy Blog

Nataly Kogan from Work It Mom

Dana Loesch from Mamalogues