Andy Rooney: Life is like a gadget drawer

Posted on July 19, 2010 by viviankirkfield

This morning I wrote a post about yesterday’s 60 Minutes segment with Andy Rooney. As the day went on, I began to think about how a kitchen gadget drawer is a lot like life and parenting. We accumulate “stuff” during our life…material things like cars, homes, appliances, clothing, lamps, and books…sometimes doubles and triples of items we don’t even use. We store up memories, both good and bad (the bad ones sometimes haunting us as we try to move forward with our lives). We hold on to feelings, even the negative ones (sometimes especially the negative ones). And, when it comes to parenting, we often repeat behaviors of our own parents we swore we would never do. Have you ever said something to your child and looked around to see if your mother was standing there, because what came out of your mouth was something you had often heard her say.

I think this happens to most of us. Maybe I can take Andy Rooney’s advice and dump out everything in the drawer (of my behavior, reactions to others, feelings, memories), look it over, and make sure I want to keep it before I put it back.

But I doubt it will be as easy as cleaning the kitchen gadget drawer.

Andy Rooney’s in my kitchen

Posted on July 19, 2010 by viviankirkfield

Last night, on 60 Minutes, Andy Rooney did a segment on gadgets one finds in the kitchen drawer. He said that most of the items he found in his kitchen drawer had not been used for 20 or 30 years.

It made me think about my kitchen gadget drawer (don’t we all have one?). So, this morning, I decided to empty it and check out what was in there.

Here is a list of what I found:

Rubber gripper for opening bottles (I use this ALL the time)
Graham Kerr sheet metal thing with ruler marking on one side (maybe for pastry making…have never used it)
Orange cylindrical plastic thing (lemon juice extractor?)..I actually have 2 of these
Wooden honey dipper (not sure what you call it…when I need honey, I use a spoon)
Green plastic grapefruit sectioner (we don’t eat grapefruit)
Orange Tupperware spreader/spatula (never used…will take it out of gadget drawer so I will have it when I need it)
Yellow plastic cylindrical thing labeled Sunkist (maybe for extracting juice from an orange)
Old-fashioned metal garlic press (I usually hit the garlic clove with the flat blade of a big knife)
Wooden double mini rolling-pin (didn’t know I had this…could have used it several times in the past)
3 top-notch wine bottle openers (my husband has a small glass of wine with dinner and I don’t drink)
Old-fashioned metal can opener (just in case the electric can opener doesn’t work, I guess)
Lobster/crab leg cracker and set of picks
Red plastic flour scooper (why isn’t it in the container with the flour)
A dozen assorted wine bottle corks (I keep throwing them away and my husband keeps putting them in the drawer)
Broken tea strainer
Metal melon ball scooper (I can’t remember the last time I scooped melon balls)
Vacuum pump and rubber corks for sealing open wine bottles
Wooden roller thing (not sure what it is for)
My oldest son’s original baby spoon (he turns 38 this month)
Set of cheese spreaders/cutters (use them at Christmas)
Set of 4 multi-colored mini rubber prep bowls (so small I don’t know what I could prep in them)

And that’s it! Do I just put it all back? Dump some of it?

What’s in your kitchen gadget drawer? I’d love to know that I’m not the only one with items I have never used and have no clue what they are for.

How to stay cool with kids

Posted on July 15, 2010 by viviankirkfield

Here in Colorado, and in most of the country, it is pretty hot.

How to stay cool, especially with young children, is the question.

Turn on the a/c (uses a lot of energy), or open windows for some cross ventilation if possible, or spend part of the day at a place like your local library or a play area at a local mall where the temperature is usually controlled for customer comfort.
Dress yourself and your children in appropriate clothing…loose, light, cotton is great. Add a sun hat for everyone when you go out and make sure you apply sunscreen.
Plan some water activities…a local pool if available, your own small kiddie pool, even a plastic bowl of water with some plastic cups and spoons can provide a refreshing hour of fun. Please use great caution with little ones and water.
Make sure everyone stays hydrated…in a previous post I suggested freezing cubes of juice to lightly flavor and add a little fun for the drinking water in your child’s cup.
Think cool with your kids…read them a children’s picture book about the wintertime…how about THE MITTEN by Alvin Tresselt or THE SNOWY DAY by Ezra Jack Keats.
Start your day with an organized plan of what you’d like to accomplish (make sure your goals are reachable…trying to do too much, especially with little ones, only increases your tension…and, as Scarlett O’Hara once said, “Tomorrow is another day”)…this makes the day less stressful, your nerves less frazzled and contributes to keeping tempers cool, even when the temperature is soaring.
Great tip for next winter: if you live in an area where it snows, collect some newly fallen snow and pack it into some plastic containers. Next summer, on a really hot day, take out the containers of snow…go outside and make snowballs or just have fun watching how quickly the snow will melt.