Ask Grandma: How to find the right man?

Grandma. She’s been there and done that.

And let’s face it, we all need to hear things from our mother that we don’t necessarily want to hear – especially when it comes to raising our kids.  From how did you go into labor to will my life ever be the same again, she has something to say, and sometimes you put on your listening ears.

I introduce you to our newest feature “Ask Grandma” — wise words from a seasoned wife, mom and grandma.

We asked Grandma about finding the right man.

Grandma says…

As I have told my daughter and other females, it is relatively simple.

#1- Does he make your sandwich first?  Pretend you are going to the beach and preparing lunch to take with you.  Your potential mate says he will assemble the sandwiches.  Does he make your ham, cheese, turkey, lettuce, tomato and pickle sandwich first?  If so, he is a keeper and will think for your needs before his own.  If he doesn’t, run for the hills for you will be hungry for love and attention your entire life.

 #2-  Does he reach for and hold your hand while crossing the street?  All of us know we can cross busy streets, but when a man is willing to protect you when crossing the street, he will protect you in other situations.  Modern women should embrace this and let men be the chivalrous and macho beings they are by nature.  By letting a man take on this role, he will feel honored, needed and loved.

Thanks, Grandma. Now, let’s all run to the deli counter!

Slow it down and shell it out

There is a mound of toys in the living room of my 900 square foot Manhattan apartment.  It grows. It shrinks. Sometimes it remains untouched. There are 67 episodes of Little Einsteins downloaded on my Apple TV. (Please Disney, please bring this show back.)  We have been to the Children’s Museum,  Natural History Museum, MOMA, The Met, Children’s Museum of the Art, the Carousel in Central Park and a show featuring the real-life Angelina Ballerina and her friends.

And yet, despite all of the time and money I spend trying to keep Madeline stimulated – I learned last week that all I really needed was a 5 lb bag of fresh peas from the GreenMarket.

She had come back from a weekend with her dad. We set about preparing our dinner with the vegetable of the week – fresh peas. We had a lot of shelling to do. I grabbed her stool and brought it into the kitchen. She can see above the counter now. We organized our workspace and started shelling. I held her little hand and showed her how to open a pea pod, how to take the fresh peas out and where to throw away the pod.  We talked. We examined the sizes and shapes of peas. We counted how many peas were in each pod. We laughed at the baby ones. We were amazed at the big ones.  We both ate raw peas and talked about how they tasted. We both wished we had more peas when the bag was empty.

In two words: we reconnected.

My dear Maddie, this is a moment I will never forget. No matter how many days you are away, I will always be your mom . You will always be my daughter. We will always find a way to smile and a reason to hug each other.

I will also never forget that ridiculously amazing fresh linguine carbonara we made with those fresh peas and fava beans. Damn, that was good bacon.

So, to all those moms and dads out there (especially the NYC ones), here are just a couple of Madeline and my tips to finding your pea pod moment:

• Have a special Sunday dinner – Slow down on Sunday and plan a fantastic simple meal. Think of something that you can make together and identify small tasks that your child can do that aren’t too messy and that will hold their attention such as cracking and whisking eggs, snapping green beans, shucking corn or stirring some red wine vinaigrette.
• Throw some pennies in a fountain – Find a beautiful foundation and stop by once a week to make a wish. Tell each other what you wished for. Try to count all the wishes in the bottom of the fountain.
• Smell the roses, literally – Stop by some flower beds. Look at all the different colors. Inhale.
• Hang out on a bench – And talk to each other. Look around and make observations. Find something silly and laugh about it. Sing some songs.
• Just sit on the floor – Turn off the TV. Set a timer for 30 minutes. Sit and play with each other until it dings. Play pretend. Build a block tower and knock it down. Or just giggle.

We are off to find this week’s fruit or veggie today. Hopefully, we’ll find some QT along the way.

Happy shelling.