The Good with the Bad

I know I'm supposed to feel terrible when one of my kids gets sick, but COME ON. Sometimes it's all too good to be true. On Friday night, Alexis was definitely not feeling like herself. Which, WAAAAHOOOO! We were scheduled to be at a cheer thing at OMG o'clock Saturday morning, so go ahead and be sick. I'll take a valid excuse to skip that cheer thing every time, no matter that it would be a waste of money to skip. Sometimes sacrifices are necessary for the sake of sleep.

Just to be sure skipping was the right thing to do, I snuck through the darkness Saturday morning to check to see if the kid still had a fever. I was halfway to deciding that she was still sick when she bolted upright, declared herself all better, and darted her way to the shower.

It was disappointing, to say the least.

But not as disappointing as what happened later. Two hours later, because the cheer thing was FAR from our house, I pulled into the parking lot just in time. From the back seat came a complaint and some whining and OMG. The sick had sunk back in.

To recap, I woke up at 4:30 on a Saturday to take my kid to a cheer thing, but then she was too sick to do the cheer thing.

ON A SATURDAY.

That's the part that hurt the most.

But then since I was up and we were forever away from our house, I decided we would just pop in at the zoo. The sick kid had, at that point, taken a nap in the car and seemed capable of walking. We  made good on our season passes and did a quick lap amongst the animals.

It was almost worth being up entirely too early for no good reason for that little bit of time watching Mila with the animals. I had forgotten how much she loves the zoo.

And when I say "loves the zoo," I mean she will spend HOURS sitting and quietly staring at animals. This is the kid who has been voted most likely to be busted swinging from the chandelier, so the complete focus and quiet is startling.

And magical.

And now I'm thinking we should spend every Saturday morning at the zoo because it's so pleasant when Mila isn't burning things down, even if being awake early on the weekend makes me want to burn things down.

Team Internet

If I were a linkbait kind of blogger, in this space would be a warning to all of the parents of the world about the dangers of the internet. Kids these days have to navigate a land far different than what we had as kids and there are traps and pitfalls and dangers behind every click.

But I'm not that kind of blogger.

And I don't have that kind of kid (yet, anyway).

Instead, I'm the sort of blogger who has always embraced the internet and felt that my kids should, too. Alexis has had an Instagram account for years at this point, and with much practice comes knowledge. She screens the backgrounds of her photos for things she doesn't want to share. She flatly ignores memes that say things like "Double-tap if you think I'm pretty" because she thinks they are manipulative. She tells me about questionable things that other kids post (Don't smoke Smarties, kids. It's dumb.). There's still lots to learn, but she's doing a heck of a job.

And, man, is there an upside.

Alexis' world is so much bigger than mine was when I was her age.

I have a million examples of ways that Alexis has managed to turn access to the internet into a learning opportunity that is incredible, but the thing that's catching my attention right now is probably my favorite - my girls have access to an endless supply of strong women doing strong things. Some of them are people she knows "IRL" because they're my friends, but some are women she sought out.

I recently let Alexis start using Twitter. The first person she followed? Well, me. But then she followed Emma González.

She's also following Malala, Misty Copeland, Zandaya, Pink, Ellen Degeneres, Alicia Keys, Hillary Clinton, Millie Bobbie Brown, Emma Watson, Selena Gomez, and Taylor Swift. While some of those are not my favorites, there's no denying that it's a powerful list of doers.

BTW, Alexis can tell you an amazing amount about Malala because she has used the internet to learn as much as she can about the powerhouse who is changing the world.

The moment that I realized that Alexis and Mila have access to infinitely more powerful women than I did as a kid was this past weekend. We went to the March for our Lives because Alexis badly wanted to be a part of something she believes in, but it wasn't until after the march that I saw it. Alexis sent me a video of Naomi Wadler's speech with the text "MOM. SHE'S ELEVEN YEARS OLD."

"I want to be like her when I grown up."

"SHE'S SO AMAZING."

I want to be like Naomi Wadler when I grow up, too.

The notion of "girl power" has changed a bit in the 30 years between Alexis' world and mine, and wow do I love where it's going.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

I'm on my way out of town for work just in time for Alexis' spring break, which means I need to yank out some recipes because that kid will happily cook for me while I'm going.

Wednesday, Alexis. Make these on Wednesday. 

If you make the cupcakes on Wednesday, I'll be home in time to make the frosting and decorate these suckers.

And then we can spend Easter weekend being happy little people.

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk (I don't keep buttermilk on hand, so I used 3/4 cup skim milk plus 1 teaspoon lemon juice -- put them in a cup together and let them sit for at least one minute. The milk will curdle and will work just fine as a substitute.)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated carrots (I used baby carrots, but any carrots will work.)
1 8-oz can crushed pineapple (Drain off the excess juice, but don't stress about it. Just get that stuff at the top of the can.)
1 cup chopped pecans

Note: There are no raisins in this recipe because RAISINS DO NOT BELONG IN CARROT CAKE. Ahem. ;-)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cupcake liners in your pans. This recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes, so plan accordingly.

2. Stir together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

3. Use an electric mixer to combine the eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract at low speed in a separate large bowl.

4. Add flour mixture to your large bowl. Mix at low speed until everything is happy.

5. Fold in carrots, pineapple, and pecans.

6. Use a measuring cup to scoop cake mix into the cupcake liners. This cake doesn't rise very much, so fill the cupcake liners about 3/4 full.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when you stab it into a cupcake.

8. Allow to cool.

9. Ice with a cream cheese icing. This one is perfect for the job, but double the vanilla extract just for fun.