Crepes and Dragons

Children have taught me so much in the past 24 hours. Yesterday I had the pleasure of teaching Sammy's Girl Scout troop how to make French Crepes. I was a nervous wreck during the hours leading up to the event afraid that the girls wouldn't like them. You know how kids are? They're honest. What if they didn't like them? What if they all said, "Yucky!" I would have been mortified and more than likely would have shed a tear or two. Instead, the class went well. Sure there were a few crepes that fell apart but there was one little blonde headed scout who said, "You shouldn't worry about how they look. My mom taught me that it doesn't matter how they look... it's the taste that counts." My heart went all a flutter and I felt much more at ease. Lesson learned. Hurray for Girl Scouts!

French Crepes

Recipe from: Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

2 cups milk

2 tbsp butter, melted

Sift together flour, sugar and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs and milk together with an electric mixer. Beat in flour mixutre until smooth; stir in melted butter.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 2 tablespoons for each crepe {I used about a ladle full}. Tip and rotate pan to spread batter as thinly as possible. Bown on both sides and serve hot.

And then....

Have you read this book? There's NO Such Thing as a Dragon, by Jack Kent. It's about a little boy, Billy, who wakes up one morning to find a small dragon in his room. Billy tells his mother about the dragon and she says, "There's no such thing as dragons." The dragon keeps getting bigger and bigger until it has overtaken the house. Mother keeps insisting that there is no such thing as dragons and out of frustration, Billy says, There IS a dragon... a very big dragon!" Then almost immediately the dragon shrinks back down to the size of kitten. Billy's mom says, "Why did it have to grow so BIG?" Billy answers, "I'm not sure, but I think it just wanted to be noticed."

After reading the story, I turned to Alex and said, "Are you this dragon? Is this the reason why you've been naughty lately? Are you making yourself loud and big because you want me to notice you?" Alex smirked and said, "No, I'm not being like that dragon." Humph, I beg to differ. She's been a little rascal lately causing all sorts of trouble around the house. How many times can I count to three in an hour, loads I tell you. Loads. I think Alex has been feeling invisible lately what with me working all the time. It made me a little sad. At least now I know that I have to give her more attention or at least help her to understand that I can play with her after my work is done... maybe she'll understand, maybe she won't. But, it's worth it to have the conversation don't you think?  Not that we haven't had this conversation before, but maybe it's time for another one.

That Jack Kent really knows how to tell it like it is doesn't he? Here I thought I was teaching Alex and in the end learned something myself.