I've learnt a terrible truth the hard way- that as I get older the next generation is getting smarter and smarter in ways that I just cannot keep up with. If I thought I was the boss of this house
( atleast, isn't that what we women like to think) all such illusions have run away after the entry of Junior John. These days, this ageing mother humbly takes orders from a 2 year old. So if I tell my kid that I have pain in my hand, he comes over, whacks me and says ' MY hand painu OK?????' And as if the way he says 'OK' wasn't already intimidating enough, he likes to repeat it again, only this time with more emphasis! So rule number one in this house- only kiddo is allowed to express pain of any kind and as a reward even gets a free massage from his poor mother who is the actual victim. :-(
So, while I was moping about the fact that I have missed the final episodes of Masterchef USA, Star World enlivens my dismal mood with trailers of the all new American Idol and Glee Season 2 which are slated to entertain me this month. Since I had nothing better to do, I thought I'd bring a smile of happiness to the brains behind Junior Masterchef Australia, because let's face it- who really wants to see kids cook?
(not when there's an even more entertaining program where a dumb blonde and a dumb guy have a very important global decision to make- who should they eventually marry from 25 suitors? Don't believe me? Then simply watch the Bachelor and the Bachelorette anytime you feel like laughing at the ridiculous shows people take great pains to participate in!) Anyways, back to the subject. So like I said, kids being confident enough to cook on tv must have a few laughs up its sleeve. But as I realised the hard way, the joke was completely on me!
These kids were simply phenomenal when it came to cooking anything! Their desserts were so top class that my eyes couldn't believe it. Even more confusing was the way the kids so easily dished up French cuisine, made a gooey choco lava cake perfectly gooey and the confidence with which they pronounced seriously hard words. Oh I forgot, why should that be a surprise? After all most of them have been cooking since the age of four!
They knew how to work with more difficult ingredients like fish and could even tell parsley apart from coriander
( at 28, I still confuse one for the other). As if, it wasn't humiliating enough to see kids as young as 8 years of age cooking up a storm and then displaying it so beautifully; I was even compelled to shed a tear when 6 kids were eliminated from the competition. This cruel cruel world! When asked why they liked cooking, one kid replied ' I find it very relaxing. It really helps calm me down.' I was thinking eh? Ah just wait sweetie, wait till you're married and you're doing it every day of your life! I liked the reply a very cheeky kid gave instead ' I like cooking because I get to eat the dish at the end.' Now there's a kid after my own heart. I knew that hogging wasn't a talent that ended with my generation!
So I know how my mum feels whenever my kid sister asks her something perfectly out of the way which leaves my poor mum scratching her head in confusion.
(like 'Mum did you hear Alicia Key's last song or do you know who Fergie is- to which dear mum confidently replied' Yes, she is the Duchess of York'.) ' Oh, you're soo last century ma' is my sister's usual diagnosis or ' Mum, you are so outdated!'. But my mum isn't one to give up a fight. She screams' Don't you dare say am outdated. Did you see that polka dots are back in fashion? Did you know that polka dots were in fashion in the 60's and I used to only wear such nice fashionable clothes?' So while Nikki is royally laughing at mum's outburst
( I mean seriously how are Fergie and polka dots related??), I took a step back and was just analysing the situation.
Someday there could be a serious role reversal where my kid asks me some bizarre question and because I don't want him to think that his mother is only a bookworm
(hell, he'll think that anyways!!), I can see myself justifying my lack of knowledge about all things yo and cool, too. And if he dares enter my kitchen and cooks up a feast all by himself at the humble age of 8, I think I'll probably need a psychiatrist then. I think it's time I sat down and became more in tune with what the next generation is already upto. And if that includes buying an I Pad and an I Phone, then I really don't mind. But if it involves sitting through teenage flicks like Twilight then maybe a little ignorance isn't such a bad thing after all!
These kids were simply phenomenal when it came to cooking anything! Their desserts were so top class that my eyes couldn't believe it. Even more confusing was the way the kids so easily dished up French cuisine, made a gooey choco lava cake perfectly gooey and the confidence with which they pronounced seriously hard words. Oh I forgot, why should that be a surprise? After all most of them have been cooking since the age of four!
They knew how to work with more difficult ingredients like fish and could even tell parsley apart from coriander ( at 28, I still confuse one for the other). As if, it wasn't humiliating enough to see kids as young as 8 years of age cooking up a storm and then displaying it so beautifully; I was even compelled to shed a tear when 6 kids were eliminated from the competition. This cruel cruel world! When asked why they liked cooking, one kid replied ' I find it very relaxing. It really helps calm me down.' I was thinking eh? Ah just wait sweetie, wait till you're married and you're doing it every day of your life! I liked the reply a very cheeky kid gave instead ' I like cooking because I get to eat the dish at the end.' Now there's a kid after my own heart. I knew that hogging wasn't a talent that ended with my generation!
