This week I cooked six meals, packed four lunch bags, polished shiny apples, measured perfect serving sizes, sliced grapes and tomatoes and bread. I wiped peanut butter off the floor, jam off the wall, dabbed a wet paper towel furiously on my new shirt with the fresh ketchup stain. I washed dishes, disinfected sippy cups,…
Author: Zsofia McMullin
The calm before
I’ve been restless lately. I can’t quite put a finger on it — it could be just the change of seasons, or age, or just the after-effects of everything this year has thrown at me. Whatever it is, I hate this feeling of unease, like something is about to happen — good or bad —…
Sunday in the kitchen
It really should feel like a chore. But by the time I line up my farmer’s market loot, sharpen my knife, and pull the pots from the cabinet, I am ready. My mind is clear, focused. I am on auto-pilot yet so aware of every crunch and chop and splash. I want to get done…
Good enough
I declared this week a “good enough week.” My husband is in the midst of some marathon business trips and while I am not complaining, I can’t deny that holding down the fort at home has been exhausting. Full time work + moody toddler = survival mode. I hate survival mode. I want to do…
Mothering — a lonely profession?
Does anyone else find parenting lonely? I guess I should say “mothering…” Does anyone find mothering lonely? I find it lonely in two ways: first, I feel alone with all of the big decisions. I know that this is not entirely true, because I do have a husband who is very much a part of…
This is how quickly it goes…
This is how quickly it goes… Not at 2 a.m. At that time of the night, two weeks in, time stands still. The small person gnawing at my nipple is red and wiggly and insatiable – and awake. “Is it 2 a.m. again,” I wonder. “Or still?” “Is it still that other 2 a.m. when…
Finding my way home
It’s a running joke in the McMullin family: as soon as two or more McMullins get together, the conversation will inevitably turn to the topic of roads. They all have an uncanny sense of direction. My brother-in-law can navigate you home from a dirt road in Iowa, giving you both the shortest and most direct…
What is broken
My husband’s been on the road for work for the past week, so to make time go faster I’ve been spending a lot of time with my girlfriends. They are all about my age, married, with kids, most of them with jobs outside of the home. I always learn something from them. Parenting tips, new…
These women
I never used to value my female friends. I never had that many of them — friends, or friends who were females — and I honestly just never thought about the value of surrounding myself with strong women. In college and even in my early career many women seemed like threats — personally or professionally….
Cooking with Grandma
My Grandma died this January. I think about her often, especially when I am cooking. I wrote this piece a few years ago, but I wanted to post it here in her memory. *** Let me lick your finger,” my Grandma demands as she reaches for my right hand. My fingers are sticky with a…
Zsofi Writes 