Made to order

The dull sound of the wet grinder was looming low from the kitchen. Tomorrow’s breakfast was slowly making its shape in the machine. Meanwhile, my elder son ( who’s almost 6) had a burning question in his tiny mind. ..

Kid : What’s for morrow’s snack box?

Before heading upstairs to retire for the day, he makes it a habit to come down to the kitchen to ask the million-dollar question. He observed the batter being made and declared
Kid :“Nice ! So , morrow’s idli.”

His large beam about his favorite breakfast made me frown.

Me : “Close enough baby. It’s dosa”

Now it was his time to frown.

Kid : "I don’t like dosa in the box. It’s more like a papad !”

I rolled my eyes and looked at my maid. She agreed in unison.

Maid : “Yeah, he left the dosa and ate all the jam last time”.
Oh, this is something I somehow missed, I thought.

Kid :“I just want idli and sugar with ghee”

I eyed on the left-over rice I just cooked for dinner. I thought of making a remix version of the rice, adding some of his favorite paneer.

Kid : “Uh No! Paneer is only for lunch, mama”.

I wanted to convince him, while his daddy dearest came to rescue. He stared at me and said,
Dad :“ You are gonna put this left-over rice for morrow?? No way !” .
I wanted to throw some water on my husband’s face for giving unwarranted suggestions and making my already-difficult task even more difficult. Instead, I just washed my own face. Anger management.

I turned to my kid, who was still waiting for today’s answer about morrow’s breakfast.
Me :"Okay baby, I’ll make you a sandwich."

Kid :"No, That’s what I ate today."

Oh my God, This kid is starting to become impossible. But, frankly and secretly, . I started liking the way he was interacting with me like an adult. I was soo enjoying this Man-to-maam talk.

Me : "That’s fine, I’ll do something in the morning. Don’t worry."

Kid : "Ok..but please don’t put papad dosa.."
I giggled and nodded.

And then, did I mention that I was dreaming of swirling dosas and angry mutters on my face the entire night? Funny dreams, I say.

Nature won't stop and so dawn broke and so did the suspense. I made upma. A breakfast which he just started to develop his taste for, apart from his western appetite of PBJ sandwiches and pastas.

Once ready, he saw me fixing his box.

Kid : “ Cool… and yeah, could u put that tomato ketchup on a separate plate and not over the upma? “

Gosh !! I wanted to tell him that’s not the right combination, but what the heck? The same kid who used to make me literally break down into tears and frantically search for websites for increasing the kid’s appetite ( when he was a toddler) is now ready for “made to order”. And mama chef is more than happy.

Am still searching for those websites. This time, its for my younger son.(who’s 3 yrs old) But, maybe its time I realize that he would outgrow his lack of appetite soon enough and start ordering me what to cook, in a year or so, following his brother. I just fervently hope that their tastes match. Or else, you would be finding me making sandwich for one box and dosa for the other. Heheh.