Our Passions!

[Emily HW]

As I was sitting there watching the Food Network and folding laundry, I was salivating over the great meal being prepared in front of me. I could practically smell the garlic, rosemary, and olive oil simmering on the stove, which gave me an itching to start dinner, even with it being 4 hours away! Cooking is my passion: it gives balance to my day, time to myself (despite the baby "band" clanging in the next room), and a delicious, gratifying outcome. That, and a good bottle of wine, is something that I could go on and on about. I'm lucky that one of my strongest passions is also something that comes along with the "job description" of being a wife and mother. I have many others, but this particular one made me wonder:

What about the rest of you? What are your passions? How do you fit them into your life now?

[lovinglivingformyfamily]

I spent my entire childhood with no hobbies, no passions and not many friends. I was bored with life and didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was alone until I met my husband, and then I realized that I was put on this earth to raise a family who can hopefully make our world a little better. That is where my passion lies. I want to spend as much time building great relationships with my family as possible. And then watch as they grow up and figure out how they want to spend their lives. With any of the other hobbies I have tried, like scrapbooking, photography, and knitting...I have had trouble sticking to it! (I really like all those things!) But with a family...you depend on each other, there is no giving up or getting bored! So my hobbie and my ultimate passion is my husband and my growing family! Perfect since I have made them my career.

[Christine]

Well, I'm with you Emily! I love to cook, always have. When I was four I would always beg my mom for spices and herbs that I could put into my plastic pots and pans. I am working on a degree in Human Nutrition since I am passionate about Whole Foods Nutrition, too. My other passion is kids. I love them and I so want my own. Unfortunately my husband and I are not quite ready to have one. I never really knew what I wanted to do with my life. Now I realize that my biggest dream is to raise children. Until we're ready to have our own, I babysit and spend time with my niece.

[Molly]

Probably the main thing I can't give up, even with my busy life being housewife and mom, is reading. And the good news is, I don't think I SHOULD give it up. I feel glad that I am modeling this behavior to my kids, teaching them that reading is very important, certainly more important than television. But then again, in the case of TV it all depends on what show you are watching. The news, political programs, or anything educational should not be lumped in with cartoons and other junk (IMO). Still, even the best programs shouldn't totally replace reading in the life of a child -- I really think children need to develop their reading skills so that as adults they will be well prepared to read whatever they want, anything and everything.

[Amanda]

I also read, I feel it is right up there in passion, yet I don't believe that cartoons and the like are junk, overall. Just like there are different "real people" shows on, so also there are different types of cartoons. There are cartoons for teaching, for entertainment, for political activism, for pure crap. For example, the cartoon Spongebob Squarepants is full of fluff and should only be used for entertainment. However, the graphic novel Maus, which is a cartoon by virtue of being cartoon drawings, is about a man's Jewish father expirences in a Nazi concentration camp. Lumping all cartoons together like that is just like saying that Days of Our Lives is all about over the top drama, so anything educational about the daily lives of people long ago must also be pure drama. My apologies to any Soap Opera fans in the audience. Also, it's like saying that because we're all feminists, we must ALL hate men, and burn our bras. Yes, cartoons are a passion of mine and I'm very proud of this. I also enjoy video games, reading, and lively disscussions, as well as standing up against not-on-purpose ignorance. People just need to learn.

[everymom]

I love the food network! I don't trust the skinny cooks though, Ina Garten & Paula Dean actually look like they eat what they cook. I'll watch Bobby Flay because.....do I even have to explain? I prepare something I saw on TV at least once a week. My kids are such picky eaters and one of them has a food allergy so I end up preparing quite a bit of food every day. I make each child a fresh fruit cup (strawberries, apple slices, melon, peaches, whatever we have fresh in the fridge) to go with their dinner. I also always have carrot sticks, cerely sticks and pepper slices on the table, because they HAVE to eat vegetables and I'm not going to fight about peas & broccoli if I want to eat them. When I was a kid my mother prepared ONE meal and we had eat it, all of it, no matter what. I vowed not to engage in the "you'll sit there untill you finish your creamed corn" battles with my children. Of course it means I do more work but I think as long as they are getting fruits & veggies it's ok by me. Of course it's not all happy-joy-joy because even if they like what's on thier plates their manners are still no better than a bunch of drunken monkies sometimes. Oh well.

[Aphie]

I have a confession.
I hate cooking.

I find it boring, dull drudgery.
I love good food and I enjoy baking things, when I'm in the right mood - I love to make biscuits (cookies to my US friends) and scones and cakes and slices with friends, like a social get-together with a baking theme. But cooking meals? I hate it.
I'm a picky eater, and always have been, and pregnancy has only made things worse. I just find the act of having to concentrate on the one meal (or inevitably burning it, or cutting myself, or similar) to be very very dull (I am, by temperament, multi-tasker. I am also terribly clumsy. Not such a good combo in the kitchen!).

Perversely, I love to make things, and to encourage creativity in others. I can't wait to introduce my child to the joys of fingerpainting and playdough! Right now I exercise this enjoyment in altering clothes to fit my pregnant shape, sewing things and beading jewellery for my friends (and encouraging and teaching my friends to do the same), and plotting crazy-patterned cloth nappies for Splodge.

[Emily HW]

Oh, Aphie, cooking definitely isn't for everyone. I loooove food, and I love experimenting with it.

I'm with you on clothes alterations, though. I have made so many clothes for Lily out of my own shirts, and I even made a wrap out of an old sheet that everyone compliments me on. My favorite project was the tshirt dress I made for Lily out of my old "Hail to the Thief" Radiohead shirt. She looks snazzy! It was my first attempt at ruffles, and I think I did better than I expected!

[swamimom]

Chocolate, red wine, coffee... pretty easy to fit in. But my all-consuming passion for a few years has been yoga, specifically Ashtanga-vinyasa, if that means anything to anyone. I dream of reading all the yoga books I've bought.
I'm an RYT and teach prenatal, baby & me, family and plain-old vinyasa classes. Showing moms how to squeeze some yoga into their day and share it with their kids, helping them find balance (hopefully) and connecting them with their fabulous bodies and with other new moms is what keeps me going.
As much as my kids have impeded my personal asana (physical) practice (90 min. a day, in my wildest dreams), they've shown me the deeper aspects of yoga practice (selfless service), and that's invaluable. I won't get all hare krishna, but anyone interested in finding a little peace amid the diapers & screaming would do well to find a class or good video or book. Of course, I have recommendations : )
Namaste,
Swamimom

[Jenny]

I love to bake. Something about making something that tastes good relaxes me. If the little ones are giving me a hard time I can put them in the kitchen with me and start baking. My son LOVES to watch the mixer work. I recently took up cake decorating. It is so neat to see something so pretty be made out of sugar. It is amazing what you can do.

[everymom]

My daughter and I love baking too. I am a fan of cookies, we must have twenty "favorites", the two most popular right now are brown sugar softies and canibal cookies. The secret there is to prepare a chocolate chip cookie dough but add a sleeve of crushed Double Stuff Oreos instead. Hence the canibal part, one cookie eats another. Yummmmmm!!!!!!!!!

[Emily HW]

Oh my god! Those sound *amazing*. I'll have to try it. What are brown sugar softies?

[Jessica Star]

Cooking was one of those things I always thought was for non-feminists, a.k.a. not for me. When I was in my early twenties, I dated mostly artists who challenged gender roles and were content doing most of the cooking. Once I got married, and decided to be a WAHW, I took over the cooking duties. (But I married a man who challenges gender roles, too, and he does all the laundry! Hooray!) Pretty soon, I realized I loved cooking. And what's more, I was kinda good at it! It was totally unintentional and not at all what I expected for my life. But now I'm like you, loving to watch people cook on television, and finding that making dinner is actually one of my favorite times of day -- definitely not something I dread doing at all. I don't have cable anymore, but when I did I watched the Food Network constantly. I miss it! Thank goodness PBS has cooking shows.

I also love knitting, another one of those things I thought was for the old and/or unenlightened. After reading about Ghandi, though, I now like to think of making my own clothes as a form of personal revolution. (Wish I could give up eating animals, too, but that's a whole other story!)