macaroni raze (minnie driver's bellybutton.) 220522 ... ovenbird I sometimes forget that my children are still relatively new to being alive. And sometimes I’m shocked by the things they have avoided learning how to do. And sometimes I feel like a complete failure as a parent for not giving them basic life skills. For instance, my thirteen year old son was off school for a Pro D Day today. At lunch he asked me to make him macaroni (the Kraft kind from a box, nothing fancy). Given that I was working and he had the whole day off I said that he could make it himself. He knows how to make instant ramen noodles. I figured this was no different. The ordeal that unfolded was a comedy of errors that left me wondering if I forgot to parent him. First he needed help finding a pot to boil water in. Then he didn’t know you needed to put the burner on high to boil water. Then he didn’t know what actually constituted boiling (small bubbles are not indicative of boiling, rolling bubbles mean you’re good to go). It boiled. Then it boiled over. Instructions were provided about further stirring and reducing the temperature a little. Once that was sorted out he poured in the noodles and was SHOCKED to discover that noodles are smaller when they’re not cooked. I recommended stirring said noodles to avoid them sticking together and he asked what he should stir them with. The answer: a spoon, which I thought was pretty obvious, but alas. He stirred. He dropped the entire spoon in so it boiled away with the noodles. He didn’t set a timer and couldn’t figure out when they were done. I said he would have to test a noodle. He got another spoon and shoved a steaming hot noodle into his mouth and burned his tongue. I explained that he should let the noodle cool a bit before testing it, given that it was sitting in boiling water. He managed to get a sieve out to drain the noodles. He then misread the box directions and was about to put half a cup of butter in there when I pointed out that it said 1.5 tbsp of butter and ½ cup of milk. He sorted that out. He didn’t know how to open the cheese packet, but managed to rip it open. He did, finally, eat macaroni. Next term he has a cooking class. So I guess I will leave him at the mercy of his teacher. I didn’t realize “cooking macaroni” was a skill that required step by step guidance, but here we are. We avoided scaldings and third degree burns so I’m calling it a win. 251128 what's it to you? who go blather from