Mary Poppins, my favorite character of all time says, “With every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. Find the fun … and snap … the job’s a game.” This saying is painted on a sign that sits on my desk.
When the kids started fighting and I looked around to see myself surrounded by a messy house and laundry mountains that reached my waist … I was faced with two choices … I could lose my shit, scream at everybody and make everyone’s day hell with a list of chores that they’d hate and I’d hate following-up on –or– I could find a way to salvage the day. I decided to go for the later. I sent one child outside to run a couple of laps around the yard and told him to pick me a couple of sprigs of mint while he was out there. I told my other child that she had 30 more minutes of free time and then we were going to start family laundry time. Advanced warning on chores always works better than “right now!”
Despite a couple of eye rolls, miraculously, it worked! While the littlest one ran around, I ran to the fruit bowl and the bar and began chopping mangos. By the time he returned with my mint, I was ready to complete my cocktail. They finished their free-time while I sat outside and had a mini-vacay, soaking in the fresh air and the sun while I sipped rum infused mango and mint. I felt like I was on a tropical island instead of in the suburbs. It was delicious!
Because motherhood can’t be all play …. I poured a second one to accompany my laundry-folding extravaganza. By then, the kids knew the expectation. We took over the living room with a laundry sorting game and they used team work to carry each load downstairs. Teaching them how to sort not just colors but also fabric weights and showing them how enormously annoying it is to inside-out everyone’s dirty socks are also life lessons, LOL. I let them go back outside while the first two loads washed and dried and then we put on a movie while we folded and rotated the remaining loads. They sipped smoothies while I sipped mojitos. We finished all of the laundry and no one managed to die 🙂 They carried all their laundry to their rooms on their way to bed.
Some days parenting is just surviving …. but other days, if we’re lucky and we play our cards right …. it’s a task well done, it’s a game well-played and it’s a cocktail mixed just right!
Mango Mojitos
Ingredients:
- 1 whole fresh mango
- 2 limes
- 3 sprigs mint
- 1 TBS agave
- 3 oz white rum
- seltzer water
- Peal and chop mango into a tall container or blender
- Squeeze two limes into the chopped mango
- Add the leaves of two mint sprigs
- Add 1 TBS agave
- Blend with an immersion blender or traditional blender
Blend well for a smooth drink with minced mint or blend lightly to be left with chunks of mango and a few mint leaves to chew on. Your choice, your life, Live it!
- Mix 3 oz white rum into the mango, mint, lime purée
- Divide the purée into two tall glasses and top with seltzer
- Add ice and garnish with a sprig of mint
- Enjoy!
