Something that often makes me smile:
Pretty much every day after school, at some point in the first 1-2 hours that the boys are home, Asher will casually pause and ask me, “So, how was your day today, mom?”
I usually take a second to consider the question, because not all days are equal. The default answer I think everyone responds to a “How are you?” question is “Good.” Many days I do answer, “It was good”, but sometimes I’ll say, “Well, it was good, but kind of busy today.” Or sometimes, “It wasn’t my favorite day! I had too many meetings, which I don’t love.” Or even better, “It was a great day! I felt really focused and productive and got a lot done.”
Regardless of my answer, I just really love that he asks me that. It’s so sweet!!
I think kids are often kind of caught up in their own worlds, or at least I always was at that age. I’m not sure it’s always intuitive at 13 years old to stop and consider that another person also had a full day of their own, separate experiences.
And I just love that he actually cares to know how his old mom’s work day went. 🙂 I never get the impression that he’s asking just to be polite; it’s never an automated response to me asking him about his day. It seems like he just honestly wants to hear how my day was! 🙂 Love him.
In other news, it snowed lightly all day yesterday. After a few days with no outside walks, I made sure to get out yesterday. It felt so nice to walk with snowflakes landing on me.
And I snapped this picture, which I like a lot because it makes my size 10 feet look much smaller than they really are (I think):
Yesterday was a strength + cardio day for me. I did another 30 minute Apple+ Fitness “Dance with Ben” throwback video while Ethan was at piano (and my Apple watch gave me an “award” for apparently being more active or burning more calories than usual, or something like that):
Dinner was a quick “shrimp and fish” fajita type thing. As you are probably seeing, over 75% of the meals I make are not using any recipe or anything- I just kind of combine random stuff that I like to eat and that seem to go together. haha. It generally works!
Yesterday I sauteed some shrimp, a couple pieces of tilapia, onion, zucchini and red pepper, with fresh lime juice squeezed over it and some seasoning.
Served with avocado slices, some instant rice because I was in a hurry, and black beans. (I didn’t have the beans though this time.)
It was very yummy!! And so quick and easy.
Enjoy your Thursday!
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for my snow boots.
GRATEFUL KAE 
That is very sweet that he asks about your day! He’s probably picked that up from you and Ivan over the years. Being curious about others/asking questions are the building blocks of being a good conversationalist!
I wish I was like you and could throw things together. I am not at all like that! I almost exclusively use recipes, it is very very very rare to make something without a recipe! We are having a shrimp stir fry dish on Friday. I love dishes with shrimp and fish so what you made is right up my alley!
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I’m 100% in agreement with Lisa. I never just whip things up. I am a recipe follower extraordinaire! I wish I had that magic gene that can open up the fridge and see the ingredients and just come up with something delicious, but I must be beholden to my Joy of Cooking and Betty Crocker cookbooks.
I have to say that what I love about the “how was your day?” exchange with Asher is how thoughtful YOU are about giving him an answer. You’ve obviously modeled asking HIM about his day and now you’re modeling how to really think before you respond. You’re such a good parent and I think you should be proud of that!
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I love your exchange with Asher about your day — both that he asks, which is really sweet, and that you don’t just give a perfunctory answer. What a lovely conversation to have with a family member.
Yay for walking in the snow! Do you like your snow boots? What brand are they?
The dinner sounds yummy! Like Lisa and NGS, I am not great at just throwing things together. I am good at modifying existing recipes to suit our particularities, but I think on the rare occasions when I try to throw things together it usually turns out badly! Yours is a wonderful skill to possess.
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I also have big feet (9.5) and love when pictures make them look smaller.
I am a big fan of throwing things together; we even call them Hodge Podge meals. A lot of times it involves eggs. Today for lunch I scrambled some eggs, added in some kale slaw, put it in a corn tortilla with a bit of sauce and – DONE.
My kids also ask about my day – a lot. It’s really sweet, and I don’t think I’d really appreciated the fact that they do this before you mentioned it. So thanks for making me aware of this nice habit!
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my girls also ask me how was my day every evening before sleep. I like it and it’s a reminder to reflect how the day went other than when I write down in the 5 years journal. I try to focus on the positive side of the day unless something really bad that pissed me off. it’s a good practice for them to do that before they fall asleep too.
so much snow and you still went out and walk? kudos to you!!!
after your post on zucchini I went to the store and tried to find them, to realize zucchini is not a common vegetables here in Jakarta. bummer.
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I love that Asher asks you about your day and I love even more that you try to be specific about your answers, so it actually turns in to a conversation rather than just exchanging truisms.
I like to try new recipes, but they often end up being heavily “tweaked” as I also tend to just “throw” things together… I think it’s a skill 🙂 Love that it is working for you too.
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