One Secret to a Working Mom Success: Make Family Events More Enjoyable With Friends

Better Together: Why Inviting Another Family Makes Activities More Fun #FamilyFun Sometimes family activities can feel like another item on the to-do list. However, doing those activities with another family makes them more fun! Whether it’s a trip to an amusement park , a visit to the local pool , or trip to a pumpkin patch , including another family can multiply the fun in amazing ways. One of my favorite moms to collaborate with is my friend, Ayana Ledford who's pictured above with her daughter Sahar. We have done all of the things listed as seemingly random examples above and here is how including her and her daughter (and sometimes her son too) has made the events more fun. On the date above, Ayana almost left the venue because parking was a nightmare. That said, she hung in there and we would up having a great time!

How Homemade Pancakes Can Dramatically Change Your Life on Sunday Mornings

My sous-chef 

One of the things that has been a pleasant surprise has been discovering new recipes. Even though making things from scratch takes more time, and is often highly unnecessary in this age of mixes, Grub Hub and Uber Eats, I get joy come from the process. The process has also given my kids and I more opportunities to bond.

My Journey to Finding The Joy of Making Homemade Pancakes 

One of the things that we have started making from scratch during the pandemic is pandemic is pancakes. In all candor, I didn't start out as a homemade pancake making kind of mama. I grew up eating brands like Hungry Jack where you got pancakes by just adding water. At my grandmother's, although she was a great cook, she used Bisquick. However they were made, pancakes always made me feel special because they were something that we only had on the weekends.



Ingredients for Homemade Pancakes #Breakfast

Earlier in the pandemic, I picked up a box of "Martha Stewart Buttermilk Pancake Mix" at Marshall's. It was everything I didn't know that I needed in my life. I found the pancakes to be light, fluffy, and oh so tasty. The kids did too. When the box ran out, I knew that couldn't return to my childhood favorite brands. And because upon research I found the regular price of the Martha Stewart mix to be too high for me, I did the only thing I could. I researched recipes for homemade pancakes.

Three Ways Homemade Pancakes Can Enrich Your Life


I found lots of recipes, but this one appealed to me, Easy Basic Pancakes by Martha Stewart. I think I gravitated towards that one because I loved that mix so much. In any event, finding that recipe transformed my life in numerous ways. 

  1. Increased Confidence: First, I have become one of the people that I admired--the homemade pancake kind of people. I used to think it stupid to waste your time making something for which there was a mix. I also hold my head a little higher knowing I have mastered this task.
  2. Increased Focus: Second, I have learned the benefit that comes from having to follow directions first thing in the morning on Sunday. There's real value in having a goal every Sunday. The ritual of it is incredibly gratifying and in some, indescribable ways, making these pancakes every Sunday helps to give my entire week more focus.
  3. Increased Bonding: Third, making these pancakes has created a regular bonding opportunity for me any my children, especially my youngest. I welcome the assistance of any of my children. However, my youngest tends to wake up the earliest. So, he is the one who usually helps me. He declares, "I make pancakes!" After his declaration, he helps. He mixes. He stirs. He tastes. He's totally into it. And, including him in this task helps us bond. 
I know that some bloggers recommend things simply because they're getting paid or they think it's cool. This is not that sort of recommendation. I only recommend things I believe in. Also, I have such little time that I am not trying anything, nor recommending anything, that's too time consuming. So, you can trust this recommendation. It's simple, not too time consuming, and yet making these will pay you back in several ways.

Give making these a try and let me know if you do!

Homemade pancakes



Comments

Unknown said…
We do homemade pancakes on the weekends too! I usually make what I call Ghanaian pancakes which are sort of like crepes but it would be nice to change things up and try this recipes:) The boys like to help make pancakes too:)
It amazes me how making the pancakes automatically makes the day sweeter! Share the recipe for the Ghanaian pancakes, please!!!